Toowoomba mum Natasha Thorpe identified as Coolum Beach drowning victim
A mother who drowned while swimming with her daughter on the first day of the school holidays has been identified as 34-year-old Natasha Thorpe.
Ms Thorpe, who works at a garden centre in her hometown of Toowoomba, had been swimming at Coolum Beach early on Monday morning when the tragedy unfolded.
Coolum Police Sergeant Peter Blake told Yahoo News Australia the woman and her daughter were swimming at First Bay “not long after dawn”.
“It’s an unpatrolled beach,” Sgt Blake said.
“The whole family were there – mum, dad, sister and daughter.”
Ms Thorpe’s sister was standing on rocks nearby and hadn’t realised she was in trouble, police said.
Ms Thorpe and her 11-year-old daughter were both dragged out to sea, but while her daughter managed to swim back to shore, Ms Thorpe was found a short time later floating in the water, the ABC reported.
Despite paramedics working on Ms Thorpe for half an hour, she couldn’t be saved and died on the scene at about 7.15am.
Ms Thorpe and her family have a holiday house in Point Arkwright and were visiting the area for the school holidays, according to the ABC.
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