The parents of a toddler who was taken by dingoes from their campervan on Fraser Island have opened up about the nightmarish experience.
Luke and Sarah Allister's 14-month-old son, Hunter, was attacked at night by several dingoes back on Friday, 19 April. Hunter's father woke and followed the sounds of his baby's cries as he was dragged by his head from the family campervan into nearby bush.
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Allister managed to scare off the dingoes and rescue his child. Hunter was lucky to escape alive, suffering from severe puncture wounds to his skull, neck and body.
The Allister's revisited the site where Hunter was abducted with Channel Nine's 60 Minutes, and have opened up for their first time about their son's near death-by-dingo experience.
"He was looking at me while he dragging him," Luke Allister told 60 Minutes' host Charles Wooley.
"A pack of them circled me," Allister recounted. He said he felt "a lot of blood" on the back of Hunter's head after the dingoes relinquished him.
"They were… trying to do a sneak attack and try to pull Hunter out from behind me," Allister told 60 Minutes. "It was pitch black and they were circling.
"I have no idea how they even circled me. I think there were about four."
60 Minutes played an 000 call made by the Allister's after the ordeal.
"We're on Fraser Island… the dingo has dragged the baby from the campervan. It dragged him out of a campervan four feet off the ground."
Hunter was flown to Hervey Bay by emergency rescuers at around 2:30 am, and transferred to the Queensland Children's Hospital in Brisbane. He is recovering well after his surgery.
According to wildlife rangers, dingoes are highly skilled at accessing things that they want, whether it be unzipping a tent or breaking locks.
The incident was the third dingo attack in the first fourth months of the year, after a nine-year-old boy and his mother were attacked in February and a six-year-old was bitten several times in January.
Emergency services personnel told 7 News to "just stay well clear of [dingoes], keep all food sources well locked up and away from dingoes, and never walk alone, always walk in groups."
Newshub.
