‘Help get him home’: Family’s plea for Pop swept away in Outback flood
The family of a Queensland grandfather who was swept away in an Outback flood over Easter has launched a desperate bid to help bring his body home.
The family of an Aspley man, who was swept away in Outback flood waters, have launched a bid to bring the beloved father and grandfather home.
Tony Aspden, 65, was last seen on Easter Saturday in Innamincka, near the Queensland border, walking through floodwater to deliver medical supplies – he was later reported missing.
His grieving family told InDaily how his body was recovered that Monday but was sent to Adelaide where it remains now.
Now they face the daunting prospect of covering the $5000 cost of bringing his body back to Queensland so he can be buried in Toowong Cemetery, alongside other relatives.
His daughter Rebecca Aspden said her father had always been “full of life” and the cook had been working on a station in the region.
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“He lived for this, he loved little country areas and he just loved this kind of life” she told InDaily.
“(He) always went out to like stations to work as a cook, so this was not his first rodeo.
“This job was going to be eight months. He’d been there though for 10 days.”
Aspden said on the day he went missing, her dad checked in with a text.
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“He sent us a message on the Saturday morning as he did every morning to our family chat saying he loved us all, and to stay safe and be happy – those were his words every day,” she said.
“He was full of life and was so excited to be working away.”
Aspden said the days-long search for her father had taken a toll on the family – and it was important to bring his body back home.
She said when her father was first listed as missing, she travelled the 17 hours to Innamincka to help wth the search.
“They found him within two hours of me being there, in a spot that they’d looked five times, but all of a sudden he was actually in that spot,” she said.
“It’s just made me be grateful that we did find him because it’s a massive river that runs into the ocean and a lot of people aren’t found. So at least we could bring him home.”
A GoFundMe page was set up on April 8 to help the family cover funeral costs, as well as the expense of transporting his body from Adelaide to Brisbane.
So far the page has raised nearly $2000.
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