'That's a wrap on old Jakey': Queensland man films his 'final moments'
A scuba diver filmed what he thought were his final moments after becoming lost at sea on Tuesday.
“So that’s it,” Jacob Childs, 30, can be heard saying on camera as he drifted out to sea.
“The sun goes down, they won’t do nothing."
Mr Childs found himself the subject of an air and sea search after he drifted away from his crew during a diving expedition near Bundaberg, just of the south-east coast of Queensland.
When Mr Childs surfaced alongside his crew’s boat, he found there was no tag line for him to hold on to.
He then spent the next six hours floating alone in the water with nothing but his thoughts, and a camera on which to capture them, as the sunlight faded.
"That’s a wrap on old Jakey," he said.
Mr Childs told the ABC he could “see and hear” helicopters around him but they were unable to spot him.
He was finally rescued at about 6pm that evening, when Water Police were able to reach him.
The officer in charge of the search praised Mr Childs’ level-headedness.
“He didn’t panic, and he did all the right things,” Seargeant Rob Jorna said.
“He knew what to do.”
The incident has not appeared to deter Mr Childs, who describes himself as a “relatively experienced diver,” from returning to the ocean, either.
“I’ll be [back in] the water tomorrow,” he told the ABC.
“I was nice and warm in my wetsuit,” he added, appearing unfazed by his brush with death.
“I wasn’t overly tired. I just wanted a drink of water and a cup of tea.”
News break – July 7
