Billy Slater rocked by family tragedy
Billy Slater has suffered a heartbreaking family tragedy, after his brother-in-law drowned while trying to save his nine-year-old daughter when she fell from their boat near Mackay, Queensland over the weekend.
Ryan Craig - who was married to Slater's older sister Sheena - reportedly managed to keep his daughter afloat until a passing jet ski was able to pick her up.
The father-of-four's body was found on Monday morning, with Slater and his family left devastated following the incident.
Slater's former teammate, Cameron Smith, has opened up about the devastating phone call he had with the footy legend.
"I found out Monday morning about this absolute tragedy. It happened Saturday afternoon up in the Mackay area where Billy's sister Sheena and her family live," Smith told SEN's The Captain's Run with Cameron Smith and Denan Kemp.
"They were just out on the water. They live very close to the dam where Ryan tragically passed away. And it's their regular place where they just go for family outings.
"I rang Billy and spoke with him and he just said, 'Look, it's an absolutely tragic (set of) circumstances, given the situation'.
"It's somewhere they spend a lot of time with the kids growing up. They've got four kids. They've got four little girls," he added.
Smith then claimed that after Craig's daughter fell in the water, "a bit of weather blew up and and it blew the boat away from where they'd fallen," adding that the boat couldn't be started
"It was a heroic effort, really, from Ryan to stay afloat as long as he did to save his daughter.
"He eventually ran out of energy. Some jet skiers came along a little bit later and I don't know how - it's just a miracle - that the little girl was still afloat.
"Ryan went under and subsequently passed away. Really tragic events and we send our condolences out to Sheena, who is Billy's sister and the wife of Ryan. Those four little girls that have lost their dad."
Queensland Police have not yet released the full circumstances of what occurred, but Inspector Glenn Cameron said preliminary investigations have revealed "the actions of the man who is now deceased saved his young daughter’s life."
Inspector Cameron reportedly said that Craig's daughter was taken to Mackay Base Hospital as a precaution, and whether they were wearing life jackets will be part of the investigation.
A report will also be prepared for the coroner.
"Our thoughts are with the family who've lost a loved one in these tragic circumstances," Cameron said.
"We never want to see something like this happen."
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