2024 year in review: Fatal crashes, shark attacks and stories from real people who call Mid West-Gascoyne home

Across the Mid West-Gascoyne region, there was an abundance of good and bad news stories this year. From rain-dancing farmers from inland parts of the region, to fatal road crashes in Jurien Bay and lives saved from the sky in Exmouth, there was a photograph to help paint the picture. Take a look at some of the headlines for the first half of 2024. 1. THE HARSH DRY Harvest in the Mid West wrapped up early, with total production down by almost two-thirds compared to the previous season’s record haul. The 2023 season in Geraldton finished at just under 1.5 million tonnes, compared with 4 million tonnes in 2022. Meanwhile, in the scorching heat of up to 46C in the Murchison, the Dowden family were forced to bottle-feed calves to reduce pressure on feed stocks during their worst drought in 30 years. 2. HAMELIN POOL COMMITMENT The State Government committed $4.6 million in January to replace the damaged boardwalk at Hamelin Pool in the shire of Shark Bay, which was left closed to the public after it was damaged by cyclone Seroja in April 2021. Member for North West Central Merome Beard called out the State Government for ignoring the site for years. 3. HORROCKS HORROR CRASH Tributes were flowing after two adventurous mates lost their lives in a shocking cliff crash while four-wheel-driving at night near Sandy Gully, north of Horrocks in early February. Friends Matthew Farr and Louis Eeles, both 22, died after their car plunged 30m down a cliff. Their 21-year-old friend in the back seat survived. 4. SHARK ATTACK ON TOUR A 46-year-old international tourist was attacked by a 2m shark while on a sea lion tour in Jurien Bay in late February. The woman required emergency surgery for a bite to her lower left leg. Turquoise Safaris captain Kane Krollig said the tour group heard the woman scream and pulled her into the boat, where they put a tourniquet on her leg and rushed her to shore. 5. DON’T WAIT UNTIL A DEATH In March, Shire of Coorow president Guy Sims lobbied for more State Government funding to upgrade the section of the notorious Indian Ocean Drive between Leeman and Greenhead, saying it shouldn’t take a death to get the job done. 6. CATTLE THIEF JAILED Gascoyne pastoralist Richard Arends was jailed for 3½ years in late March for plundering the stock of neighbouring Buurabalayji Thalanyji Aboriginal Corporation as it teetered on the brink of financial collapse. The 46-year-old stole an estimated 161 cattle worth $150,000 to keep his station afloat. His partner Rachael Third had been previously handed a suspended jail term over the cattle heist. 7. CLEVELAND DODD INQUEST From April, evidence was heard from the first tranche of witnesses during the inquest into the death of 16-year-old Meekatharra boy Cleveland Dodd, the first juvenile in WA to die in custody. “I’ve been patient for seven years now . . . can you check when I got locked up?” “That was a long time ago . . . I was little then,” Cleveland told the officer, before fatally self-harming in his cell. 8. ANGELS IN THE SKY In May, the Midwest Times told the story how the Royal Flying Doctor Service saved Exmouth woman Leanne Schofield’s life after a near-fatal asthma attack on her way home from a camping trip in Kalbarri in February. After making the eight-hour drive home, her symptoms continued to worsen and she went to hospital, where she was told if she’d gone another 15 minutes without hospital treatment she would not have survived. Ms Schofield described the RFDS as “our angels in the sky”. 9. WELCOME RAIN Farmers in the Mid West were praying for rain to help salvage their season after many pulled back on their seeding for canola and lupin. It wasn’t until June, when the Mid West recorded more rain in the second week of June than for the whole of 2023, that farmers’ spirits improved. 10. TRAGIC JURIEN BAY DEATHS Alexx Wright, 19, was killed in an alleged hit-and-run in late May after stepping out of a van parked on the side of Indian Ocean Drive, about 4km south of Jurien Bay. They were struck by a vehicle travelling north and died at the scene. Jurien Bay woman Brooke Narelle Hicks has been charged with manslaughter and failure to stop and report. Just weeks later, Jurien Bay Country Women’s Association founding members Coral Seinor, 83, and Thelma Clausen, 82, died together in a double fatal car crash on Brand Highway in Cooljarloo, north of Cataby. They were remembered as community-minded women joined at the hip for more than 40 years. Former AFL player Shannon Cox has been charged with two counts of manslaughter. 12. BLOWHOLES DODGE BULLDOZERS In June the Midwest Times reported that the owners of the shacks at Carnarvon Blowholes where Cleo Smith was abducted won a reprieve at the State Administrative Tribunal from demolition orders. The Shire of Carnarvon issued the order to 23 shack owners, declaring the structures were unsafe, but the SAT reviewed the decision and instead granted shack owners the opportunity to repair the shacks.