Two 17-year-olds in Australia have tragically died after one ‘fell off’ a waterfall and her friend jumped in to try and help her.
The teens, identified by news outlets as Honor Ward and Beau Liddell, passed away after visiting a waterfall at Wappa Falls in Yandina, on Australia’s Sunshine Coast, on January 19.
According to a press release from Queensland Police, emergency services arrived at the scene after receiving reports that a 17-year-old girl, Honor, fell off a waterfall at Wappa Falls and failed to resurface around 2:30pm local time.
Honor had been swimming upstream when she reportedly got caught in the rapids and got swept over the falls.
Beau, who had been at the waterfall with Honor, jumped into the water to try and find her, but police say he then also failed to resurface.
Queensland Fire Department and Police divers began a search and rescue mission at approximately 2:50pm, but it wasn’t until 3:30pm that Honor’s body was found in the water by emergency services.
Four hours later, Beau’s body was found in the water, also unresponsive and deceased.
Beau Liddell was described as being ‘liked by everyone’ (ABC)
Both Honor and Beau were former students at the Sunshine Beach State High School, which has said it is ‘heartbroken’ by the loss of the two former students.
Loved ones of both teenagers have spoken out in the wake of the tragedy, with Beau’s father, Adam Liddell, saying his son was ‘liked by everyone’.
“Everyone’s just destroyed at the moment,” he told ABC News.
The grieving father said Adam’s bid to try and help Honor was a reflection of who he was as a person.
“He’d put himself in danger just to help someone,” he said, adding that Beau was one of four siblings.
Honor’s friend, Phoebe Loynd-Andersson, told ABC that Honor was ‘always there for everybody, no matter what she was going through herself’.
Honor got caught in the rapids at the falls (ABC)
“As soon as I met her, she just immediately took me in, and I was just one with her and the group — we all just loved her,” Phoebe said.
“[She] just wanted to be there for other people and she would encourage people.”
Warning signs at Wappa Falls alert visitors to ‘heavy currents, deep water and submerged boulders’, however Adam has argued that there could be ‘more done’ to prevent any similar incidents in the future.
Honor and Beau are not the first people to have died at the swimming spot; at least three other people have lost their lives at Wappa Falls since 2007, ABC reports.
A GoFundMe page has been set up following Beau’s death to help his family cover the costs of his funeral.
0 comments
Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe/Getty Images/Douglas Cliff
Emily Brown
Boy hailed hero after risking his life to save sister from brutal dog attack
Bridger Walker underwent two hours of surgery following the attack
A boy is being hailed a hero after risking his own life to save his sister from a brutal dog attack.
Back in 2020, Bridger Walker, six at the time, jumped in front of a German Shepard after the dog lunged at them while at a friend’s house in Wyoming.
The child was left needing 90 stitches to repair the damage done to his face, a procedure that involved him being in surgery for two hours.
Explaining what he did that horrible day, Bridger said ‘If someone had to die, I thought it should be me’.
Speaking about the incident a year on, Bridger’s dad, Robert Walker, told People in 2021 how his son very much stood by those strong words.
Bridger is being hailed a hero (YouTube/WPLG Local 10)
He said: “My wife and I asked him, ‘Do you want it to go away?’ And he said, ‘I don’t want it to go all the way away,'” the father of five says. “Bridger views his scar as something to be proud of, but he also doesn’t see it as being representative of his brave act. He just perceives it as, ‘I was a brother and that’s what brothers do.’ It’s a reminder that his sister didn’t get hurt, and that she is okay.
“It almost bothers him sometimes when he’s called a hero, because he [thinks], ‘Maybe I could have done more to shield her’.”
The boy has been hailed a hero online, with his story recirculating on Reddit recently.
“Well done little man, braver than a lot of people at such a young age…” one person said.
A second added: “This lil hero better get everything from his Christmas list this year.”
The boy needed 90 stitches (YouTube/WPLG Local 10)
Bridger’s story also garnered praise from many celebrities, including the likes of Anne Hathaway, Chris Evans, and Tom Holland.
The latter even said he would invite the boy onto the set of Spider-man: No Way Home, and he kept to his promise.
Robert took to Instagram and penned: “Remember when @tomholland2013 promised Bridger he could come to the filming of Spider-Man? He delivered!
“When we first arrived on set, I was a little apprehensive that once the ‘curtain was pulled back’ that the magic of the movies would be lost for the kids.
“The opposite was true! Tom, Zendaya, Harry, @lifeisaloha, @tonyrevolori, and the entire cast/crew made our kids feel like stars. They don’t just act the part of friendly neighborhood heroes – that’s what they truly are.”
