Friend Speaks Out About Being with Teens Who Died in Double Drowning, as Loved Ones Remember Them

Mar. 15, 2025

Beau Liddell.Photo:GoFundMe

GoFundMe

More than 100 friends and family members gathered for a vigil in Australia this week to remember two teenagerswho drowned at a waterfall last weekendwhen one of them jumped into the water to try and save the other.

The memorial was held on Tuesday evening, Jan. 21, at Chaplin Park in Noosaville, Queensland, for Honor Ward, 17, who died along with 17-year-old Beau Liddell on Sunday, Jan. 19, atWappa Fallson the Sunshine Coast, theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC),7NewsandNoosa Todayreported.

“We allowed pets in the store,” Eleanor Hangeraaf, a co-worker of Ward’s at a discount store, told 7News andNoosa Todayat the memorial.

“She would never let a dog past if she couldn’t pet it," Hangeraaf said. “She would immediately run straight through the aisles for that dog, no matter what breed.”

Queensland Policesaid in a previous statement that emergency services responded to a call about a 17-year-old girl, later identified as Ward, who “fell off a waterfall at Wappa Falls and failed to resurface” around 2:30 p.m., local time on Sunday.

Liddell, a friend of Ward, “jumped into the water to assist locating the girl but has also failed to resurface,” authorities said.

“Police will prepare reports for the coroner for both the girl and the boy,” Queensland authorities said in their statement, adding, “Wappa Falls remains closed at this time as investigations continue.”

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“She would put the bin out for the elderly lady next door,” Burke told 7News.

Ward’s older brother recalled her as tough but also “a good girl, with a good heart. I love her loads and she’ll forever be in everyone’s heart,”Noosa Todayreported.

Ward’s father also praised Liddell for trying to save his daughter at the cost of his own life and called on people to remember Ward, saying, “She loved you and we loved her.”

Ahead of the memorial, Kaylee Rainbow, a friend of the teens, shared on social media that she was with Ward and Liddell when they drowned.

“There was nothing I could do,” Rainbow wrote, ABC reported. “Honor was my everything, my safe place, my constant, and now she’s gone.”

Adam Liddell, Beau’s father, earlier said that “the whole family is just a mess” following his son’s death, according toABC.

“That’s the type of person he was,” Adam said at the time of his son trying to save his friend, adding, “He never thought of himself first.”

Both teens were former students at the Sunshine Beach State High School, ABC reported.

According to the network, at least five people had died at the same swimming spot since 2007.

Adam Liddell told ABC that steps should be taken to prevent additional deaths at the waterfall: “There could be a lot more done than a couple of little signs that say ‘dangerous water.’ “

“We need common sense, and you don’t want to put young people’s lives at risk, or anyone’s life” she added.

AGoFundMeestablished for Beau has raised more than $17,000 as of Thursday, Jan. 23.

source: people.com