Eight-year-old girl’s desperate battle to save her friend from drowning after they were left to swim in a lake alone – as dad regrets making devastating decision

A young girl desperately tried to save her best friend from drowning during a camping trip that went horribly wrong.

Ailise Brown drowned on July 8 last year near the Bivouac Junction campsite, 30km east of Charters Towers, in North Queensland.

The nine-year-old girl had been begging her parents for days to let her go camping with her best friend, but they finally gave in, a decision that still leaves her with great sadness.

Sadly, Ailise drowned in the Burdekin River a few hours after arriving.

“I gave in and let her go,” said Ailise’s father Michael Brown.

According to the police investigation, Ailise and her friend had already been allowed to swim alone twice that day, The courier post reported.

“The first two swims took place in shallow areas of the river and were uneventful,” the coroner’s 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 away in the struggle.

Ailise’s friend’s father ran away from the campsite, which was only 50 metres away, and dived into the river to look for her (pictured is the Bivouac Junction campsite)

“The girls swam to the deep end of the river, which they had not done on their previous swims … Ailise struggled in the deep water,” the police report said.

The friend swam back to the riverbank and raised the alarm.

The police report states that Ailise’s girlfriend’s father ran from the campsite, about 50 meters away, and dove into the river.

He couldn’t find Ailise.

An hour later, her body was found on the riverbed, wedged between pieces of wood in the current, about 7 feet (2.1 meters) above the water’s surface.

Ailise’s grieving mother, Zoie Bragg, praised the actions of Ailise’s friend, who was just eight years old at the time.

She called her “courage and caring” “admirable.”

A year after losing Ailise, Mrs Bragg said: ‘We feel disoriented and bewildered without our daughter.’

Ailise Brown’s (pictured) best friend, 9, desperately tried to save her after they went swimming during a camping trip to the Burdekin River in Far North Queensland

She said they were “disheartened” by the coroner’s report and wanted an inquest into their daughter’s death.

“We want justice for the death of our little girl,” she said.

She said there appeared to be discrepancies between the coroner’s report and the police report.

“The coroner’s report states that (the classmate’s mother) asked (her husband) to watch the girls, which is not stated in the police report,” she said.

She added that they had struggled to find “closure” and had repeatedly asked for witness statements.

When Ailise passed away, detectives from Charters Towers CIB conducted an investigation after arriving at the scene of the tragic event.

‘The police have investigated the circumstances surrounding Ailise’s death.’

“There were no suspicious circumstances,” the coroner’s report said.

“No charges have been filed in connection with Ailise’s death.”

‘Given all the evidence, I believe this is the right decision.

‘I am not convinced that it is in the public interest to hold an inquiry as I believe that drawing attention to the circumstances of this death is unlikely to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future.

“There is also no uncertainty or contradiction in evidence that would justify the use of the judicial forensic process. There are also no suspicious circumstances that have not been resolved or that have not resulted in criminal charges.”