NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

Scammer tried to cash in on zip-line death at Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours

By Alexis Carey and Ally Foster
news.com.au·
24 Oct, 2019 02:44 AM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Dean Sanderson was killed and his wife Shannon was injured after the zip-line snapped. Photo / Supplied

Dean Sanderson was killed and his wife Shannon was injured after the zip-line snapped. Photo / Supplied

A friend of the Adelaide tourist who was killed in a zip-lining accident has revealed the sick tactic someone used to try and cash in on the freak accident.

Dean Sanderson, 50, died on Tuesday when the zip-line run by Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours in the Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland broke, causing him to fall more than 10 metres.

His 48-year-old wife Shannon also fell and remains in a serious condition at Cairns Hospital.

Damian McCann, a friend of the couple, has since set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of Mr Sanderson's funeral, news.com.au reports.

But he revealed it has been a struggle to get donations after a scammer set up his own fundraiser on a different website and tricked friends and family of the couple into donating.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There was a different fund set up by someone claiming to be a friend of family but it turned out to be a scam," Mr McCann told news.com.au.

"I donated and then I was told that the man who started it didn't actually know the family."

He described the person as the "lowest of the low".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"So the response to the new fundraiser has been a bit lukewarm. People are now wary about donating," he added.

On the page Mr McCann urged people to contact him if they had any concerns about the authenticity of the donation page.

He hopes to raise enough money to cover Mr Sanderson's funeral and to help the family with any ongoing costs.

"Because they are away from home the family is going to incur significant costs and the fund will hopefully help with that," Mr McCann said.

Discover more

World

Malaysian scammer's pathetic excuse for blackmail scheme

31 Oct 03:53 AM
World

Bali holiday horror: 'We started to go blind'

07 Nov 04:39 AM

"It is also to try and take a little bit of worry off their plates during this difficult time."

Mr McCann had been friends with Mr Sanderson since the early 2000s and said he was the "life of the party".

"He was one of those one in a million, salt of the earth type people. He couldn't be more helpful to others," he said.

"He was the life of the party and somebody that everybody knew."

Speaking of the couple, he said that Mr Sanderson and his wife "were as close as they could possibly be".

"I know she will be devastated and the aim of the fundraiser is to try and help put her mind at ease even a little bit," Mr McCann said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

'BLOODCURDLING SCREAM'

A woman who was next in line to take the zip-line that killed Mr Sanderson has revealed the horrifying moment the man plummeted to his death.

Witness Mardi Liebelt, who was waiting in line behind the couple when the tragedy occurred, has spoken to the ABC about the terrifying ordeal.

"The twang when the zip line came back up made an awful noise, then there was just silence for what seemed like forever," she told the ABC.

"And then the lady was just screaming for help, a terrible bloodcurdling scream that I never wish to hear again."

Ms Liebelt, from Hervey Bay, said a fellow tourist, a paramedic who was also waiting to use the flying fox, rushed to help the injured couple.

"He managed to revive (Mr Sanderson) for a while, but he died because of massive head trauma," Ms Liebelt said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Following the accident, Ms Liebelt and her partner Andrew Hayward were both trapped in the tree-high platform for an hour before they could be rescued.

Mardi Liebelt and Andrew Hayward were the last people to speak with the Sandersons. Photo / News Corp Australia
Mardi Liebelt and Andrew Hayward were the last people to speak with the Sandersons. Photo / News Corp Australia

She said staff and fellow customers were traumatised and she "broke down in tears" after the Sandersons fell.

Ms Liebelt was one of the last people to speak with Mr Sanderson and described the couple as "very friendly".

"Ironically, they were telling us how they had zip-lined in Bali and how there's not much in the way of safety there and how they felt much safer being back in Australia and zip-lining," she told the ABC.

The witness said she was struggling with feelings of guilt.

"We feel guilty, we feel lucky, we have felt every emotion in between and still do," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We don't know why it was them and not us.

"We haven't slept. Every time you shut your eyes you relive it because you see it again."

Fellow witnesses Samantha Salyer and Joseph Maghe, from the US, told Seven yesterday they had just finished the same section of the zip-line before watching the couple fall.

"We got to the fifth platform and there were two couples behind us," they said.

"There was a loud noise, we turned around, one of the lines had snapped and we saw them fall. It shook the entire tree we were on. They hung there, then they both came down at the same time."

An emotional Jungle Surfing Canopy Tours director Phoebe Kitto told The Courier Mail she couldn't explain how the tragedy unfolded at this point, but the business would co-operate fully with authorities to investigate how it had occurred.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Our condolences go out to the family, this is just such a tragedy. We are completely in shock here at Jungle Surfing, and we are thinking of the family first and foremost," she said.

"We're also thinking obviously of the other people that were on the tour, some of whom witnessed the event which is a terrible thing to have to experience.

"And our staff have been severely impacted by this tragic event."

According to the Courier-Mail, this week's accident comes 15 years after a similar tragedy in Cape Tribulation.

In 2004, 21-year-old British tourist Lucy Keen fell 20 metres ad was left permanently brain damaged after operator Steve Jay Clark failed to secure her harness properly.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Machete-wielding man shot dead by police at Sydney shopping centre

13 Jul 04:52 AM
Royals

Royal and Sussex aides hold 'peace talks' in bid to mend relations

13 Jul 04:49 AM
World

Trump defends officials amid backlash over Epstein file investigation

13 Jul 03:44 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Machete-wielding man shot dead by police at Sydney shopping centre

Machete-wielding man shot dead by police at Sydney shopping centre

13 Jul 04:52 AM

The 29-year-old man was married and had two children.

Royal and Sussex aides hold 'peace talks' in bid to mend relations

Royal and Sussex aides hold 'peace talks' in bid to mend relations

13 Jul 04:49 AM
Trump defends officials amid backlash over Epstein file investigation

Trump defends officials amid backlash over Epstein file investigation

13 Jul 03:44 AM
Trump admin’s handling of Epstein probe divides officials at FBI and angers Maga base

Trump admin’s handling of Epstein probe divides officials at FBI and angers Maga base

13 Jul 02:18 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP