The Mount Isa-based LifeFlight aeromedical crew today rescued a couple after their 4WD washed away in crocodile-infested flood waters in North West Queensland.
The couple, aged in their 50s, endured two terrifying nights with a large crocodile stalking them.
They had been stranded in the Gulf Country North West of Staaten River National Park, in 40-degree heat for three days before LifeFlight rescued them.
They had no food and were drinking from the river.
The rescue crew took off at 8:40am from the Mount Isa base to search for the missing couple after a friend had reported them overdue.
They had left Normanton on Thursday, December 5 and had not arrived at Kowanyama.
It is believed the couple had attempted to drive across a river crossing, when the vehicle was overcome by a large wave of flood water.
They told the LifeFlight rescue crew they had to scramble out the passenger window to escape and the male driver had to swim back into the vehicle to free their two dogs before he could swim to shore.
Without phones or phone reception, the stranded couple wrote two large SOS signs in the dirt, which the LifeFlight crew saw from the air.
The pilot was able to land the chopper on the road beside a river, before the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) flight paramedics assessed the patients.
They were treated for dehydration and exposure and loaded onto the rescue helicopter, with their two dogs, and airlifted to the Normanton Hospital for further treatment.
