In 1981,12-year-old Carl Powell was presumed dead after he went missing while wading in fountains on Swanston Street. As The Age turns 170, we revisit the firemen who risked their lives to save him.
It was a warm night in January 1981 when a 12-year-old boy, who had been wading in Melbourne’s City Square fountains, got sucked underwater and disappeared.Firefighter Garry Cronin was commended for saving Carl Powell.The whole country seemed to hold its breath, waiting for a miracle. And incredibly, that is what transpired.
From hospital, Carl told journalists he fell through a broken grate while wading in the fountains in Melbourne’s Swanston Street. In the water below, he was tossed around, could feel suction and hear a pump.He grabbed a pipe, and found a space where he could breathe. He said he’d been scared, and started praying and saying, “I don’t want to die”.
“He was beside himself,” Rodda said. “He wanted to see his mum. I tried to coax him into coming out, and he said, ‘no, I’m not gonna let go’.”
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