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An Australian mother has warned travelers to be wary of adventure activities abroad after she and her family nearly died during a ‘nightmare’ whitewater rafting in Bali.
Aimee Everard was on vacation in Indonesia two weeks ago with her husband, their two children, aged seven and nine, and her mother when their boat capsized while they were rafting on the Ayung River, in the southeast of the island.
Mrs. Everard’s mother was dragged downriver and out of sight, leaving the family helplessly waiting by the river, fearing she was dead, until she later emerged from the water with rescuers.
The horrific October 2 experience took place just one day before American Robinaugh Clifford Neil, 64, went missing — and now presumed dead — in a similar rafting incident on the same river.
Before boarding, Ms. Everard said she and her husband checked with the company several times to make sure their children were old enough to participate and were told it was suitable for anyone aged five and over.
Aussie mom Aimee Everard (pictured with her husband) has warned travelers after a recent horror whitewater rafting experience in Bali
But Ms Everard, who found rafting in Bali so safe as a child that it was almost boring, was shocked that the river was so ‘hectic’, with the rapids raging through the recent rain.
While the first part of the ride went well, disaster struck when the family heeded the guide’s instruction to paddle their boat over a waterfall.
“Our boat was immediately squeezed from front to back and we were stuck at the bottom of the waterfall in the most powerful water!” Mrs Everard writes this in a message on Facebook.
‘Our guide was thrown out and my mother was sent under the boat right under the water, my husband and I clinging to our children!
“We couldn’t get to my mother, we were stuck in this suck of water for fear that we would go down with our children too!”
Mrs. Everard said another boat sailing behind them did not realize the family was trapped and descended the waterfall and hit their boat.
The boat had been driven from its place.
Everyone in the second boat ended up in the river, too, said Mrs. Everard, with a girl going right under, just like her mother.
While Mrs. Everard and her husband concentrated on trying to care for their children, her mother began to drift down the river, desperately trying to cling to everything she could.
Pictured: Tourists white water rafting along the Ayung River in Bali, in the southeast of the island
Ms Everard said the river (pictured) was raging downstream due to recent rain in the area
‘We shoveled our guide into the boat and managed to get hold of a stray paddle, and two German tourists from the other boat. [who were] in the water!’ she said.
“We managed to pull the boat to the side and get out with the kids, my husband sprinted through the jungle on the river side to keep an eye on mommy, but to no avail, the river was just too fast!
“Mama floated away in front of us, we couldn’t do anything to get her!”
Ms Everard said the guide and a German man “selflessly” jumped into a boat and set out to find her mother as they waited helplessly on the shoreline, wondering if she had survived.
“It was f****d!” she said.
‘Had we jumped in we would have risked drowning too, because one boat couldn’t have saved us both!! I stood there with my kids and my husband not knowing what to do! We were just stranded and helpless!’
“I’ve never felt so helpless or desperate in that moment!”
Ms Everard said she and her husband had made the decision to leave and trek up the mountain to get their children to safety while they believed her mother was dead.
However, their fear soon gave way to cheers when they were halfway up the mountain and heard screams and looked down to see Mrs Everard’s mother, the guide and the German man standing safely on the other side of the river.
Survivors of the rafting accident in Ubud hug and comfort each other on Oct. 3 as launch attempts began to locate Neil
Once at the top of the mountain, Ms. Everard told them to wave a truck off to take them the 40-minute ride back to base to be reunited with her mother and the rest of the group.
When they were finally reunited, Ms. Everard said she “just grabbed her and sobbed.”
‘We really thought she was gone! She would have wandered down the river for at least a mile, if not more!’
“They saved her. We were so grateful!’
Ms. Everard said she was incredibly lucky that her mother “had her mind” and focused on how she would try to save herself that word.
She believes that if it was her children who had fallen into the water, they would have drowned immediately and will hold onto “the guilt” of putting her children and family in that situation for “the rest of her life.”
Ms Everard said she shared her experience, not to blame but to urge others to question the safety of recreational activities more before moving forward, and said an American man died the next day in similar circumstances. .
According to local news channel Coconuts, Mr Neil went missing while white-water rafting on the Ayung River in a group with nine other foreigners.
Ms Everard has urged travelers to exercise caution and question the safety of foreign adventure activities. Pictured: Tourists exploring Bali
The boat he was sailing capsized in the midst of the strong current, and as guides worked to rescue tourists from the water, they lost sight of Mr. Neil.
Authorities immediately launched a search that lasted seven days before being halted when efforts to locate Neil proved fruitless.
‘We should have paid much more attention to the river after all that rain! We should have known and I never would have gone!’ said Mrs Everard.
“But we did and it was very traumatic! We almost lost our children and my mother!
“Mommy came out of here with five stitches in her hand, cuts and scrapes and in shock! We’re lucky!!…We almost weren’t, and we lost almost everything!
‘Please, question everything like that twice! I’m not exaggerating at all, it was really that close!’
Ms Everard’s post has gone viral, garnering more than 3,000 comments, as Australians gathered to send their get well wishes after the near miss.
“This is like reading a movie script, it’s absolutely terrifying. Glad you’re all okay. Someone was watching over all of you,” a woman said.
‘We’re bringing all our kids in December, the youngest will just be 8. My fiancé read that he was a reasonable age to do it, but I wouldn’t get it… this helped prove my mother’s instincts. Thanks,” said another.
‘How scary for all of you. So glad your mother and children were safe,” said a third.