A young woman desperately tried to rescue her best friend from drowning during a camping trip that went horribly wrong.
Ailise Brown drowned near Bivouac Junction camp, 30 kilometres east of Charters Towers in north Queensland, on July 8 last year.
The nine-year-old had begged her parents for days to let her go on the camping trip with her best friend and they finally relented, a decision they said haunts them.
Tragically, Ailise drowned in the River Burdekin just hours after her arrival.
“I gave up and let her go,” said Ailise’s father, Michael Brown.
According to the police investigation, Ailise and her friend had been allowed to swim alone on two previous occasions that day, The courier mail reported.
“The first two attempts occurred in shallow areas of the river and were uneventful,” the forensic report said.
But the girl’s third swim ended in tragedy when Ailise’s friend bravely tried to help her “several” times, but was pushed in the struggle.
Nine-year-old Ailise Brown (pictured) drowned near Bivouac Junction campsite, 30km east of Charters Towers in Far North Queensland, on July 8 last year.
Ailise’s friend’s father ran out of the camp just 50 metres away and dived into the river to try and find her (pictured: Bivouac Junction camp).
“The girls swam into the deep end of the river, something they had not done in their previous swims… Ailise had difficulty in the deep water,” the police report said.
The friend swam back to the river bank and raised the alarm.
The police report states that Ailise’s friend’s father ran out of the camp just about 50 metres away and dove into the river.
He couldn’t find Ailise.
Her body was discovered on the riverbed an hour later, trapped among driftwood in a current, about 2.1 metres below the surface.
Ailise’s grieving mother Zoie Bragg praised Ailise’s friend, who was just eight at the time, for her actions.
She said his ‘courage and care’ were ‘admirable’.
A year after losing Ailise, Ms Bragg said: “We felt disoriented and bewildered without our daughter.”
Nine-year-old Ailise Brown’s best friend (pictured) desperately tried to save her after they went swimming during a camping trip in the Burdekin River in Far North Queensland.
She said they were “disheartened” by the coroner’s report and would like an investigation into her daughter’s death.
“We want justice for the death of our little girl,” she said.
He said there appeared to be differences between the coroner’s report and the police report.
“The forensic report mentions that (the classmate’s mother) asked (her husband) to look after the girls, while the police report does not say so,” he said.
He added that they had difficulty finding “closure” and repeatedly requested witness statements.
At the time of Ailise’s death, detectives from Charters Towers CIB conducted an investigation after attending the tragic scene.
‘Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding Ailise’s death.’
“There were no suspicious circumstances,” the coroner’s report said.
‘No charges were filed in Ailise’s death.’
‘Taking into account all the evidence, I believe this is the right decision.
‘I am not convinced that it is in the public interest to hold an inquest as I consider that drawing attention to the circumstances of this death is unlikely to prevent deaths in similar circumstances occurring in the future.
‘There is also no uncertainty or conflict of evidence that would justify the use of the forensic judicial process nor any suspicious circumstances that have not been resolved or have given rise to criminal charges.’
