A couple who were ‘stalked’ by a crocodile while stranded in floodwaters in the Outback say they are lucky to be alive as they relived the terrifying ordeal.
Tony and Lisa Fogg were finally pulled to safety by rescuers three days after their 4WD was swept away while traveling between Normanton and Kowanyama in the Gulf of Carpentaria in far north Queensland earlier this month.
The Gold Coast couple knew the area well, having worked in remote Aboriginal communities for the past six and a half years.
So on December 5, the pair didn’t think twice about driving through mudflats as they crossed Clarke Creek.
“It was in less than a foot of water – a very normal, harmless creek crossing on the main road for us,” Fogg told The Project on Sunday.
However, that foot of water quickly rose above three feet of flood water, trapping the couple and their two dogs, Charlie and Daisy, in it.
Mr and Mrs Fogg’s submerged car began to fill with water and they were in danger of drowning before a passenger window popped open at the last minute, allowing them to flee.
Mrs. Fogg escaped the flooded car and with what he thought would be his dying breath, her husband grabbed the dogs as the vehicle went down.
Tony and Lisa Fogg (pictured) stranded in the Queensland outback for three days after water swept their 4WD from a creek crossing
The couple and their two dogs (pictured) were trapped in their flooded 4WD, but managed to escape just in time
The group managed to swim to shore where they were stranded for three days.
They survived by building a makeshift shelter against branches and leaves and drinking the muddy flood water.
Although their hunger and the swarms of mosquitoes attacking them would have been enough to send any Bushman over the edge, the couple faced a much greater threat.
“After we scrambled to shore and realized we had nothing, I let Lisa and the dogs go to a shady area along the shore,” Fogg said.
‘We’re used to having crocodiles everywhere here, but when I went back down to get us some drinking water, I saw a crocodile looking straight at me.
‘I think from then on he was keen to take the dogs for a meal and we had to keep him from coming out of the water to us all night and most of the next day.’
When asked if the couple ever thought they were going to die, Fogg replied, “Pretty much all the time.”
Mr Fogg added: ‘We knew someone would eventually discover where we were between the two arrival and departure points.
‘We really just had to keep our spirits up by making sure we had what we needed, which was water and shelter. We had nothing else.”
The Foggs were attacked by swarms of mosquitoes and came face to face with a ‘stalking’ crocodile
The couple survived by building a makeshift shelter against branches and leaves and drinking muddy water
The Foggs not only lost their 4WD, which is currently under 2.5 meters of crocodile-infested water, but also their belongings within it.
The couple are currently staying with friends in Cairns but plan to return to the Gold Coast.
A GoFundMe as the couple has already raised more than $4,000.
“We desperately need help to get home to family, rebuild our shattered lives and get back to work,” Fogg wrote.
‘All we have left are the clothes we wore and our trusty red and blue heels.
‘Asking for help is very difficult for us, because we are used to helping others. Any help would be greatly appreciated.”
LifeFlight pilot Michael Adair said the couple had almost given up on being found after being stranded in the outback for two nights.
“These people had resigned themselves to dying and seeing the look on their faces when they saw us and realizing they weren’t going to die – that’s why we’re doing this,” he said.
A LifeFlight crew searched 500 km of desert and eventually discovered a huge SOS written in the mud by the Foggs
The LifeFlight crew searched 500km of desert and eventually discovered a huge SOS written in the mud six hours into last Saturday’s flight as the couple waved frantically from below.
As the crew descended, the couple couldn’t believe they were being rescued.
“They said, ‘Thank God you’re here, we didn’t think anyone was coming,’” Adair said.
“The woman told us that due to the exposure she had heard voices in the bush and convinced herself that no one would come to help them, so she was very emotional when we hugged her,” he said.