Leslie Stirling drowned on the Waimakariri River when the jetboat he was in flipped, trapping him underneath. Photo / Supplied
Leslie Stirling drowned on the Waimakariri River when the jetboat he was in flipped, trapping him underneath. Photo / Supplied
A man has described the agony of being unable to save his brother after a fun jetboating expedition turned into a living "nightmare".
Dave Stirling, 46, joined his brother Leslie, 44, in his beloved jetboat out on Canterbury's Waimakariri River on Sunday afternoon when a freak accident trapped Leslie Stirlingunderneath the boat.
The jetboat - which Leslie Stirling was keen to show off after the motor was recently rebuilt - initially became stuck in a narrow section of the river.
"We tried to push it out and it was getting dark," a sombre Dave Stirling told the Herald.
"Les took off in the boat and managed to get into deep enough water. I just heard 'bang, bang, bang' and I thought he had grounded the boat, but it had flipped and landed on top of him."
Dave Stirling rushed to the boat and struggled for five to 10 minutes to free his brother and drag him out of the water.
"I got him out ... and gave him CPR, but he had a large gash on his head. I think he had hit his head on a rock."
Unable to do anything more himself, he trekked about 2km in the dark across the waterways and rocks to get to a van the pair had travelled in. He then smashed the van window to get in and use a phone to call police.
