Hero grandson saves family members off Dampier coast

In August 2022, Daniel Snell was on a boat headed towards the Montebello Islands off the Pilbara coast with his younger brother, father, and grandfather when conditions suddenly took a turn for the worse.

“We were heading on a spearfishing trip to the Monties. We drove up from Waroona and launched a boat in Dampier and, yeah, it went a bit pear-shaped,” recalls Daniel.

“We were about 40 kilometres off the coast and the weather just started getting real bad and it was coming onto the side of the boat – which in a catamaran’s not the best thing – and a big wave came and we just flipped over. It happened so quick.”

Daniel swam out from the boat and, realising his family hadn’t surfaced, dove straight in to look for them.

“My main concern was to go find Pop. I knew my little brother and my dad would probably get out, but I realised if I don’t act, I might not see my Pop again.”

Daniel found his younger brother Mitchell first, tangled amongst all the gear and ropes. Grabbing him by the collar, Daniel pulled him out and swam with him to the surface while their father Spencer had also managed to free himself.

“As I’ve come out with Mitch my dad popped out and I just yelled ‘where’s Pop, where’s Pop?’. Dad couldn’t really talk that much because he was catching his breath, so I just went straight in and looked around for a bit.

“I saw Pop floating up against the floor of the boat which was full of water. He was wearing a big thick woollen jumper, so he was sort of floaty, so I had to grab him and swim down with him. We came out and he coughed up a bit of water and he was ok.”

Filled with relief, the group then scrambled up the underside of the boat to sit on the hull and process what had happened.

“A few cool drinks floated up, so we had a drink and had a bit of a laugh and a sigh of relief,” said Daniel. “After that I swam back down and got the EPIRB and we set that off. Being so close to Barrow Island there was a lot of boats around, a lot of tugboats and gas boats so the emergency response was really quick.”

After a search and rescue helicopter located them, the group spent the night on the tugboat Pacific Gannet while being transported back to Dampier.

Daniel’s courage and strength that day ensured his family members all survived with no major injuries. For his actions, Daniel was presented with a Royal Life Saving Gold Medallion Bravery Award at a ceremony last October which he attended with his family.

“I was watching a lot of other people get their medals, the stories didn’t all end so well as ours, a lot of people passed away and it’s always sad hearing those sorts of stories. But this was a good story and everyone came out good so yeah, I felt pretty proud.”