news

News in 5: GoPro catches man's last moments; Sydney train crash; Royal engagement.

1. A woman filmed herself swimming at a popular Victorian waterfall. She had no idea she was capturing a man’s final moments.

Anneka Bading swimming Grampians drowning
Anneka Bading filmed a man's final moments. Image via Facebook.

When Victorian woman Anneka Bading started filming herself swimming at MacKenzie Falls in the Grampians National Park on Saturday, she didn't know she was actually capturing a man's final moments.

Using her GoPro, the 24-year-old inadvertently captured the panic of a group of around 10 people behind her as one of them slipped into the water.

"They were just playing under the waterfall on the rocks," Anneka told the Stawell Times.

"They didn't even swim there, he was sitting on the rock and must have slipped. They were having so much fun till he fell in."

ADVERTISEMENT

Anneka said she and her friends were unaware of what was happening until the group started "screaming and pointing".

"At that point we had no idea what was going on. We thought some sort of animal was in the water," she said.

"We couldn't understand what was going on and they kept screaming and pointing.

"One girl grabbed my GoPro stick and tried to use it to save him. I then clicked someone was drowning."

Despite the fact there were more than 40 people at the falls, the man could not be saved due to the depth and pressure of the falls. Emergency services later revealed a rock shelf below the water line at the falls may have trapped the man.

To make things worse, no one had any mobile phone service to call emergency services.

"I got out of the water and tried to call triple zero, asking everyone if they had service. Not one person had service," she said.

"Everyone didn't know what to do and we couldn't understand [the victim's friends]. My legs were shaking when I knew what was going on but no one knew what to do."

It took Anneka more than 10 minutes of driving to reach an area where she had phone reception.

The man's body wasn't found until 9am the next morning after a lengthy search.

The 24-year-old is now calling for there to be better signage about the dangers of swimming at the falls, and for Victoria Parks to look into ways to increase mobile phone service in the area.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It could've been us," Anneka said.

"You just don't know how powerful it is. We all cried on the way back saying how lucky we were to be alive."

2. Passengers 'sent flying', more than a dozen injured after train ploughs through barrier at Sydney station.

Image via AAP.

Passengers were sent flying when a Sydney train ploughed into a rail barrier at Richmond Station, injuring more than a dozen people as horrified witnesses looked on, AAP reports.

ADVERTISEMENT

The train smashed into the end of the line just before 10am on Monday, with the impact crushing the bumper and causing part of the train to lift.

A total of 16 people - including the driver and two other staff members - were treated at the scene, NSW Ambulance said.

Brett Saunders, who was on a platform at the station, said the stairs inside at least one carriage were covered in blood.

"(The train) crashed at full speed into the barrier sending everyone flying like superman. It was insane," he wrote on Facebook.

Another witness told Sydney's 2GB radio the train came in at speed and hit the buffer before rebounding, causing an "almighty bang".

"There was a huge amount of dust," he said.

Jaiden Ruttley, who was towards the back of the train from Windsor, said people were screaming.

"We came to this sudden stop, it felt like the whole train had lifted up in the air," he told Fairfax Media.

Fifteen people were taken to various hospitals in the area for treatment, including a 21-year-old man with a suspected broken leg and an elderly woman with a fractured collarbone.

The remaining patients suffered less serious injuries - largely back and neck pain and cuts and bruising, NSW Ambulance's Paul Turner said in a statement.

"These people are very lucky," Supt Turner said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"It was chaos. Things could've been much much worse."

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said it was too early to speculate about the cause but, from what he had seen, the buffer stop worked "effectively".

"It is obviously very concerning," he told reporters in the city before a scheduled meeting with unions over pay and conditions for train workers, which was delayed for a number of hours because of the incident.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian assured Sydneysiders that authorities will find out what happened to make sure there is no repeat.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Office of Transport Safety and the Office of National Rail Safety Regulator are now investigating.

3. Watch out Harry and Meghan, there's another royal wedding on the way in 2018.

ADVERTISEMENT

Princess Eugenie has become engaged to long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The pair became engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month, the palace statement said.

The wedding will take place at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle this northern autumn. It is the same venue that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will wed on May 19.

Buckingham Palace said Eugenie's parents, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and his former wife Sarah, were delighted to announce the engagement.

Eugenie, 27, began dating Brooksbank around seven years ago after they met while skiing in the Swiss resort of Verbier.

Brooksbank is the manager of London nightclub Mahiki.

Nicola and George Brooksbank, the parents of Jack, said in a statement: "We could not be more delighted with the news of the engagement.

"We are completely over the moon and are very excited for them both."

4. According to science, you're not officially an 'adult' until you hit 24.

woman stressed at computer working
Adulting is hard. Image via Getty.
ADVERTISEMENT

Thought you were officially classified as an adult the day you hit 18? Think again.

According to The Telegraph, researchers from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne have argued that the timings for the traditional definition of adolescence and adulthood need to be changed.

While adolescence typically ends at age 19, the scientists wrote in Lancet Child & Adolescent Health the brain continues to mature past the age of 20, with some people's 'wisdom teeth' not developing until the age of 25.

The scientists also point to the fact that people are now delaying activities typically believed to be 'adult' - like getting married and having children - until later in life.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lead author Professor Susan Saywer said these delays, and a longer period of study for many young people, showed that adolescence was continuing well into people's 20s.

"Age definitions are always arbitrary, but our current definition of adolescence is overly restricted," she told The Telegraph.

"The ages of 10-24 years are a better fit with the development of adolescents nowadays."

Some scientists disagree with the new report, saying that just because a young person was still studying or unmarried did not mean they were not functioning as a proper adult.

"There is nothing inevitably infantilising about spending your early 20s in higher education or experimenting in the world of work," parenting sociologist Dr Jan Macvarish told the BBC.

"Society should maintain the highest possible expectations of the next generation."

5. Less than two weeks after her younger sister and parents, actress Jessica Falkholt has been laid to rest.

Jessica Falkholt. Image via Facebook.
ADVERTISEMENT

Former Home and Away actress Jessica Falkholt has been remembered by her family and friends as a "beautiful woman" at a funeral held at the same church where her younger sister and parents were laid to rest less than two weeks ago.

The 29-year-old died on Wednesday, six days after her life support was turned off at St George Hospital.

The rising star had been clinging to life in a critical condition since December 26 when the car she was travelling in with her parents Lars and Vivian and sister Annabelle was involved in a collision with a four-wheel drive near Ulladulla.

The sisters were rescued before the car erupted in flames with the bodies of their parents inside. Annabelle, 21, died in hospital three days later.

In a statement provided to The Daily Telegraph, Jessica's close friends say the past few weeks have been a time of "unimaginable trauma" for those who knew the actress and her family.

"We look forward to putting this horrible period behind us, while cherishing the memories we have with our friend, Jess," the statement said.

ADVERTISEMENT

"The past weeks have been a time of unimaginable trauma. Jess was an incredibly private person and would have been moved by the generosity of spirit so many have shown."

Her uncle Paul Paul Ponticello delivered a moving eulogy, which acknowledged that family and friends were still coming to terms with the tragedy.

"An entire family has been taken by events totally beyond their control," he said.

"What occurred does not fit neatly within the definition of accident."

White doves were released in Jessica's honour at the conclusion of the service.

6. Six-time champion Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open after losing in straight sets to world number 58.

Novak Djokovic Australian Open 2018
Novak Djokovic. Image via Getty.
ADVERTISEMENT

An injury-ravaged Novak Djokovic is out of the Australian Open, the six-time champion losing in straight sets to South Korean prodigy Hyeon Chung in the fourth round, AAP reports.

The 14th-seeded Serb needed a medical timeout for treatment of his injured elbow and was in obvious discomfort throughout as Chung stormed to a 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 7-6 (7-3) victory on Rod Laver Arena.

It continues a giant-killing run for world No.58 Chung, who defeated fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Saturday and his older brother, 32nd seed Mischa, in the opening round.

Djokovic must have felt like he was playing a younger - and fitter - version of himself throughout their three-hour, 21-minute clash.

The 21-year-old Chung bore an uncanny resemblance to his childhood idol with his speed, athleticism and freakish retrieval skills.

Coming off a six-month layoff, the longest of his career, Djokovic's health had been questioned throughout the tournament and his troublesome right elbow appeared far from healed.

Again wearing a full compression sleeve on his arm, Djokovic sent down four straight double-faults in falling to a 4-0 deficit in the opening set.

The 12-time grand slam winner fought back to force a tiebreak but was clearly in pain when at full stretch and called for the trainer in between sets.

ADVERTISEMENT

Chung continued to play inspired tennis, leaving Djokovic down two sets to love at Melbourne Park for the first time since his fourth-round loss to eventual champion Roger Federer in 2007.

Interviewed ahead of the tournament, Djokovic insisted he had not had surgery on his elbow but was tight-lipped on the exact nature of his injury and how he was managing his pain.

"Djokovic in trouble," former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash posted on Twitter as Chung pressed his advantage.

"Elbow seems to be bothering him and he's not even running to some balls. Injuries seems to be weighing on him physically and mentally now.

"Sad to see the six time champ still struggle with injuries after six months of rest and rehab."

Chung will face world No.97 Tennys Sandgren in the quarter-finals on Wednesday after the aptly-named American's shock defeat of Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem.

7. It's so hot in Queensland right now, the quality of your morning coffee is being affected.

latte coffee barista
Image via Getty.
ADVERTISEMENT

Queenslanders may notice that the milk in their coffees is not as frothy as usual, and the state's recent heatwave is to blame.

According to The Courier Mail, high temperatures are responsible for dairy cows producing milk with a lower protein quality.

This, in turns, affects the 'frothability' of the milk. Some cafes are also experiencing delays in supplies due to the lower quality milk.

On Monday, Brisbane experienced a top of 31, while Birsdville in the state's west reached a whopping 44 degrees. Similar conditions are expected across the state today.

"It's a normal thing with the hot weather that it just affects the quantity and amount of protein in the milk," dairy owner Owner Ross Hopper told The Courier Mail.

"There's actually a fair bit of science to it all and you try and do the best with what you've got.

"We just try and shoo the cows off under the trees to stay cool."

Thankfully, with cooler nights on the way later this week, the protein quality of Queensland milk should quickly improve. And that means, so will our lattes.

ADVERTISEMENT

We think you deserve to treat yourself. So Mamamia are giving you the opportunity to win one of three $100 gift vouchers by completing a survey for us.

Here at Mamamia we are always looking for ways to make Mamamia even better and more sparkly for you. By filling out this quick 15 min survey, you will help us do just that.

MMSurvey