A couple who were “stalked” by a crocodile while stranded in outback floods say they are lucky to be alive as they relive the ordeal.
Tony and Lisa Fogg were finally brought to safety by rescuers three days after their 4×4 was swept away while traveling between Normanton and Kowanyama in the Gulf of Carpentaria, far north Queensland, earlier this month.
The Gold Coast couple knew the area well and had spent the last six and a half years working in remote Aboriginal communities.
So on December 5, the couple didn’t think twice about driving through deep water while crossing Clarke Creek.
“It was less than a foot of water; for us it was a very normal, harmless crossing across a creek on the main road,” Fogg told The Project on Sunday.
However, that foot of water quickly surpassed three feet of flood water, trapping the couple and their two dogs, Charlie and Daisy, inside.
Mr and Mrs Fogg’s submerged car began to fill with water and they nearly drowned before a passenger window opened at the last moment, allowing them to escape.
Mrs Fogg escaped from the flooded car and with what she thought would be her last breath, her husband grabbed the dogs as the vehicle sank.
Tony and Lisa Fogg (pictured) were stranded in outback Queensland for three days after floodwaters washed away their 4×4 vehicle from a stream crossing.
The couple and their two dogs (pictured) were trapped in their flooded 4×4 but escaped with moments to spare.
The group managed to swim to shore where they were stranded for three days.
They survived by building a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves and drinking the muddy flood water.
While their hunger and the swarms of mosquitoes attacking them would have been enough to drive any bushman over the edge, the pair faced a much greater threat.
“After we climbed onto the bank and realized we had nothing, I asked Lisa and the dogs to go up to a shady area on the bank,” Mr Fogg said.
“We’re used to having crocodiles everywhere here, but when I went down to get some water to drink, I saw a crocodile looking right at me.
“From then on, I think he wanted to eat the dogs and we had to keep him from coming out of the water towards us all night and most of the next day.”
When asked if at any point the couple believed they were going to die, Mrs Fogg replied: “Almost all the time.”
Mr Fogg added: “We knew someone would eventually find out where we were between the two arrival and departure points.
‘We basically had to keep our spirits up by making sure we had what we needed, which was water and shelter. We had nothing else.’
The Foggs were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes and came face to face with a ‘lurking’ crocodile
The couple survived by building a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves and drinking muddy flood water.
The Foggs not only lost their 4×4 currently under eight feet of crocodile-infested waters, but also their belongings inside.
The couple are currently staying with friends in Cairns, but plan to return home to the Gold Coast.
TO GoFundMe for the couple it has already raised more than $4,000.
“We desperately need help to return home to our family, rebuild our shattered lives and get back to work,” Mr Fogg wrote.
‘We are only left with the clothes we were wearing and our trusty red and blue heels.
‘It is very difficult for us to ask for help, since we are used to trying to help others. Any help would be greatly appreciated.’
LifeFlight pilot Michael Adair said the couple had all but given up on being found after two nights stranded inside.
“These people had resigned themselves to dying and seeing the look on their faces when they saw us and realized they weren’t going to die – that’s why we do this,” he said.
A LifeFlight team covered 500 km of desert and finally saw a huge SOS written in the ground by the Foggs.
The LifeFlight crew covered 500 km of desert and finally saw a huge SOS written in the ground six hours into the flight last Saturday and the couple waving frantically from below.
When the crew descended, the couple couldn’t believe they were being saved.
“They said, ‘Thank God you’re here, we didn’t think anyone would come,'” Mr. Adair said.
“The wife told us that she had been hearing voices in the bush because of the exposure and that she had become convinced that no one would come to help them, so she was very emotional when we hugged her,” he said.