A doctor who was mauled to death by a crocodile let go of his wife’s hand as she tried to save him so she wouldn’t be dragged into the water with him.
Dave Hogbin, 40, was walking along the Annan River, south of Cooktown in Far North Queensland, with his wife, Jane, and their three sons Isaac, 7, Max, 5, and Joey, 3, on August 2 when the bank collapsed.
Mr Hogbin fell into the river and was attacked by a nearby crocodile.
Mrs Hogbin heard a splash and ran to the shore to try to pull her husband out of the water.
However, the shore was so steep and slippery that he could only grab onto his arm and risked falling into the water.
In the midst of the horrific attack and rescue attempt, Mr Hogbin spoke his final words to his wife: “Stop, you’re falling too.”
“It’s still very surreal, the situation he found himself in,” Hogbin told the paper. Courier mail on Sunday.
“The danger I was in and that one of us could emerge unscathed from it.”
Dave Hogbin (pictured) was mauled to death by a crocodile after falling off a river bank in Far North Queensland.
Hogbin’s wife Jane (pictured with their three children) revealed that he let go of her hand as she tried to pull him away from the crocodile, saving his life.
The family of five had left Newcastle in Newcastle and were on a month-long caravan holiday in the Sunshine State when the attack took place.
Isaac, Max and Joey were with their parents when their father fell over the riverbank, but their aunt and uncle protected them from the attack.
Two weeks ago, Mrs. Hogbin and her three children celebrated their first Father’s Day without Mr. Hogbin.
He had been a dedicated adventurer and an incredible father, Ms. Hogbin recalled.
The family used to go on caravan trips every fortnight, which Mr Hogbin loved to plan and prepare meticulously.
His dream had been to travel to Far North Queensland.
Mrs Hogbin has decided to keep all the family’s camping and caravanning equipment, but has been unable to undertake a trip without her husband.
The couple was married for 10 years and together for 13.
They met after Ms Hogbin moved into her parents’ home on the Central Coast for university accommodation.
They later laughed at the fact that Mrs. Hogbin had lived with Mr. Hogbin’s sister and parents “even before she met him.”
Ms Hogbin described her children as resilient as they work to find the “new normal” since their father’s death.
The more than $160,000 raised for the family has enabled Ms Hogbin to support her children following the death of their father (pictured, a crocodile being fed near the site of the attack shortly after Mr Hogbin’s death)
While Father’s Day was a difficult time for them, the children had the full support of their extended family and their uncles attended school events with them.
Mrs. Hogbin is still working on getting up the courage to look at Mr. Hogbin’s photographs.
“What really devastates me is that he was a wonderful father and his children absolutely adored him, and I’m so heartbroken for them because they won’t have many memories of who their father was to them,” she said.
Ms. Hogbin is extremely grateful for the more than $160,000 raised through a GoFundMe campaign for her family.
It has given her the flexibility to take time off from work while her family grieves.
“I know the kids have certainly appreciated it… If they’re having a bad day at school, I can pick them up right away and we can be together,” she said.