Freak yachting accident kills Darwin teenager

by BW Media on 28 Feb 2009 A freak yachting accident has claimed the life of a 16-year-old Darwin girl in Phuket Thailand.

Ali van Os, daughter of author Joanne van Os and barrister Lex Silvester was killed by a flying hawser which snapped at the Yacht Haven marina on the northern shore of Phuket Island.

Five days after the accident, her parents made the heart-breaking decision to cut off the life support system that was keeping Ali alive, even though her brain was said by doctors not to be functioning.

Ali had been with her parents visiting a friend's boat when the superyacht sailed in and prepared to dock. Ali rushed over to have a closer look as it was tied up.

At the last moment, instead of reversing to come to a complete stop, the yacht unexpectedly surged forward into the wharf causing the hawser, which had already been tied off to the wharf, to break. Ali was hit in the head by the 10cm wide mooring line as it snapped, suffering a severe head wound.

She was rushed to Bangkok Hospital, bleeding heavily, but doctors said the tests showed that her brain had ceased to function. The family kept a vigil beside her bed for five days before making the decision to have the machines turned off.

Ms van Os is famous for her children's book Brumby Plains and her memoir Outback Heart. Outback Heart told of her marriage to Rod Ansell, the man who inspired the character Crocodile Dundee. She said she took solace in the thought her daughter's final moments were spent around the sea.

'We take some comfort -- a lot of comfort -- that she was doing something she loved'

Mr Silvester is a well-known barrister in Darwin.