'Thunder River Rapids Ride' Tragedy Victim & Bystanders Awarded Bravery Citations By Governor-General

[Jamberoo Fan]

From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

Quote

Dreamworld rapids ride tragedy victim, bystanders awarded bravery commendations

ABC Gold Coast / By Mark Rigby

Posted 1h ago

Kim Dorsett says her son would be pleased to have his bravery recognised.(ABC News: Adam Kennedy)

 

• In short: Four people involved in the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy have been recognised by the Governor-General for their bravery.
• Kim Dorsett says her son's final action saved the life of his then 12-year-old niece.
• What's next? Bravery citation recipients say they still live with the psychological impacts of what they witnessed.

Kim Dorsett has known for years her son's final actions were those of a hero.

Today his bravery has been nationally recognised.

Luke Dorsett was killed during the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned, causing his raft to collide with another and flip.

But before his tragic death, the 35-year-old saved his niece's life.

"When the raft inverted, [Luke's] first action was to put his arm across Ebony and he pushed her to the side so she jumped off the raft," Ms Dorsett said.

"There is no doubt in my mind that without him she would have gone into the water and into the conveyor belt."

Mr Dorsett has been awarded the Commendation for Brave Conduct from the Governor-General.

Video (Dreamworld victim's mother on her son's bravery commendation) (Duration: 52 seconds)

Ms Dorsett said the recognition would have left her son "chuffed to the eyeballs".

"He'd be pleased that someone noticed that he had thought of his niece first — he'd be really excited," she said.

Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild and Roozi Araghi, Mr Dorsett's partner, were also killed in the incident, which resulted in Dreamworld's operator being fined $3.6 million for breaches of workplace health and safety laws.

Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett and Roozi Araghi died on the Thunder River Rapids ride.(Supplied: Facebook)

Several bystanders rushed to help before emergency services arrived.

Thomas Hanson, Danny Haber and Joedy Vincent were among them and have today been awarded a Group Bravery Citation from the Governor-General.

The heavy toll of bravery

Mr Hanson was 16 when the tragedy unfolded.

The now 24-year-old was on a family holiday and had boarded one of the ride's rafts moments before the disaster.

"We'd noticed the water level was really quite low and that was when we got told to hop off," Mr Hanson said.

"As we were hopping off was when the raft hit the one in front and tipped everyone out."

Thomas Hanson was involved in the Dreamworld tragedy.(ABC News: Rick Rifici)

Mr Hanson said the air filled with screams and people fled but his instincts sent him back into the fray.

"I went to the raft in front as people were trying to get off, I grabbed a young baby off the ride and took it back to my mum who was standing in the queue," he said.

"When I decided to go and help further, at that point I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

"I expected just to see people swimming in the water after being flung off the ride … not seeing the things that I did."

The toll of his bravery has been heavy on Mr Hanson and despite years of counselling, it still has a daily impact on his life.

Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty to three breaches of workplace health and safety laws.(AAP: Dan Peled)

"I still get flashbacks and certain noises, mechanical noises, are a constant trigger," he said.

"There's still one image … a constant image that keeps coming up."

Mr Hanson said while he was honoured by the Governor-General's citation of his bravery, he struggled to be happy about anything related to what happened that day.

Confronting, catastrophic

Danny Haber was living in Western Australia and holidaying in Queensland when his family made a snap decision to visit Dreamworld.

The Thunder River Rapids ride was going to be the group's last of the day but as they made their way through the turnstiles Mr Haber heard a loud noise followed by screams.

Danny Haber says he rushed to help after the incident.(ABC News: Peter Garnish)

"My wife grabbed our kids and our cousins and got them out," Mr Haber said.

"I knew they were going to safety so at that stage I just instinctively climbed the barricade and the fencing and tried to get in to help."

Mr Haber described the scene beyond the barricade as "confronting and catastrophic".

He said the first thing he saw was a young girl – a girl he would later learn was Kate Goodchild's daughter – on the walkway.

The Thunder River Rapids ride catastrophically failed in October 2016.(YouTube: James Wu)

"She was stunned and in shock, not knowing what to do, so I grabbed her and got her out of the ride, back over the barricade to safety," he said.

Mr Haber said he then tried to free several people from the upturned raft and the water before he noticed a second child trapped in the confines of the ride area.

"I picked him up and climbed across the carousel trying to get across so that he couldn't see what was in the water," he said.

His effort has come at a huge personal cost.

"For my wife and I, it's something that we live with constantly, there are some permanent scars that we've had to work through," he said.

"There's some things that you can't unsee [or hear], especially some of the noises and stuff from the day."

Mr Haber said he too struggled to reconcile feelings of pride about the Group Bravery Citation.

"I appreciate the acknowledgement, it's a pretty humbling experience," he said.

"[But] it's hard to be acknowledged for something that was pretty catastrophic, significantly for four people that passed away on the day."

Posted 1h ago

 

Edited March 26 by Jamberoo Fan

[Brad2912]

3rd article about TRRR in the last 24 hours.

if I’m one of the families I’m sick of it continuing to be brought up by the media every few months to get some clicks. 
 

move on. 

[New display name]

You don't think it's good to recognise people, for doing great things in the worst of times @Brad2912because that is what I got from the article? 

[Rivals]

idk if news articles kept bringing up my traumatic experience from 8 years ago in order to get a couple dollars i wouldn’t be very happy.

[New display name]

I think DW being reminded how badly they failed, keeps the pressure on DW from going back there.  Makes me feel safer going to DW.  If it’s forgotten and never talked about, DW have less reasons to keep me safe.

[CR4ZE]

I can see where you're coming from Brad, but Mr Dorsett's mother, Mr Hanson and Mr Haber have all willingly spoken to the media about this. The former has taken this as an opportunity to honour her son's legacy. I don't think we should be speaking on behalf of the bystanders, the victims or their families. There is an interesting dichotomy in these situations where a preventable tragedy occurs; we want those affected to be able to move on with their lives, but importantly we still need to acknowledge the failings and hold the appropriate parties to account. As for the media's role, yeah sure, we all know they profit off clicks, but at the very least these recognitions of bravery were newsworthy and the article is not the typical clickbait shitpost the media usually loves to capitalise on.

[Brad2912]

3 hours ago, New display name said:

I think DW being reminded how badly they failed, keeps the pressure on DW from going back there.  Makes me feel safer going to DW.  If it’s forgotten and never talked about, DW have less reasons to keep me safe.

The people who failed are no longer there. The people running the joint now are the most scrutinized or any theme park in the country, and don't deserve to be continually tarnished by the same brush their predecessors rightfully were.

VTP largely gets free reign by the GC media because they wine and dine anyone and everyone from local paper, radio stations etc constantly. 

It's funny how just a couple of days out of from peak easter holidays, we get a rush on "Don't forget DW killed people" articles.

In a couple of weeks we'll no doubt get a front page headline about how great The Flash Ride is too

2 hours ago, CR4ZE said:

I can see where you're coming from Brad, but Mr Dorsett's mother, Mr Hanson and Mr Haber have all willingly spoken to the media about this. The former has taken this as an opportunity to honour her son's legacy. I don't think we should be speaking on behalf of the bystanders, the victims or their families. There is an interesting dichotomy in these situations where a preventable tragedy occurs; we want those affected to be able to move on with their lives, but importantly we still need to acknowledge the failings and hold the appropriate parties to account. As for the media's role, yeah sure, we all know they profit off clicks, but at the very least these recognitions of bravery were newsworthy and the article is not the typical clickbait shitpost the media usually loves to capitalise on.

Yeah, and maybe i chose the wrong article of the 3 to be critical of. In isolation, its a worthy article, but on the back of 2 others by the same media organisation in the preceding 24-48 hours - thats planned. 

[New display name]

29 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

The people who failed are no longer there. The people running the joint now are the most scrutinized or any theme park in the country, and don't deserve to be continually tarnished by the same brush their predecessors rightfully were.

It's a reminder to all parks, not to put money first over people's safety.  Not just DW.  

 

33 minutes ago, Brad2912 said:

VTP largely gets free reign by the GC media because they wine and dine anyone and everyone from local paper, radio stations etc constantly. 

I wouldn't be making those allegations publicly, but I want to keep my house.

[Brad2912]

6 minutes ago, New display name said:

I wouldn't be making those allegations publicly, but I want to keep my house.

Only need to follow local journos and radio hosts on socials to see them out and about at SW Resort, TG etc - often with or tagging and thanking high ranking VTP employees.  

I'm sure they'll call it friendship, but its friendship that comes with perks and understanding.

It's not illegal, its smart business if you want favourable media - but that doesn't mean DW deserve to be drilled regularly for not following suit.