A picturesque barbie boat ride almost turned to tragedy for mother of 3, Leitchville dairy farmer Stephanie Dehne.

Dehne, along with friends and family, like many Australians, had hit the water to celebrate the Australia Day weekend. Their plan was to boat upstream from Murrabit and enjoy lunch at the Royal Hotel Barham before a lazy afternoon return journey, but things quickly escalated into a life-or-death race against the clock.

“We booked in for lunch at 1:30,” said Dehne as she recalled the fateful day.

“It was around 12:45. I knew because I had just taken a photo. A few of my girlfriends and I were sitting at the front of the barbie boat. It was slippery from some splashed-up water, then out of nowhere the front of the boat dipped,”

“I don’t know if it was a tree stump or something. It gave a dip and we all kind of started to fall off.”

While others fell clear of the vessel, Dehne slid across the bow with her body abruptly contacting a mooring cleat, which impaled the stricken woman.

“I managed to push myself off it as I fought against the current taking my legs, which wasn’t helping the situation. It took a while to free myself. It just happened so quickly.”

“I’m sure it was only a matter of seconds, but it just felt like forever.”

Dehne fell into the water but soon noticed that the situation was dire.

“I shouted out that I was bleeding, and my husband Rohan jumped straight into the water and grabbed me and pulled me to the front. Then my other friend grabbed me by the hands and pulled me up.”

There was no denying the severity of her injuries as blood pooled around the stricken Dehne.

“They gave my husband the towels, and he applied pressure straight away, which helped. As he started applying, his pressure was quite firm; I could feel the bleeding had stopped.”

With no exact location known, the concerned party of friends powered towards Barham. Seeking assistance from Mick Shepard, fishing in a boat nearby, he packed up his rods and sped upriver.

“They rang the ambulance. It was the Deniliquin ambulance that had to come because the Barham ambulance was in Deni.”

As the barbie boat pushed upstream, Stephanie Toohey kept Dehne awake by talking and applying ice as directed by the medical staff on the phone. The strain on the boat engine was too much, and it gave up. Their only option was another nearby couple fishing.

“Steph Toohey shouted at them that it was an emergency, and we needed their boat. They packed up their rods and came straight over. Between them all, they lifted me onto the front of his boat, and then he took off.”

As they raced Dehne closer to Barham, Mick (Shepard), already reaching Barham, loaded a paramedic aboard and headed downstream to the patient.

“The paramedic jumped on the front of the boat, I think there were concerns that I had a main artery.”

With help at hand, Dehne was transported to the Barham MPS.

“We were there for a couple of hours, and again, my husband applied pressure the whole time. He even took over from the nurses, because I think they just weren’t firm enough. I could feel the blood coming out, and he’s like, let me do it…”

“I just cannot stress enough how amazing my husband was. He held pressure on me for over three hours.”

“Even the paramedic said, “Your husband is fantastic, you know he’s the reason you’re not bleeding out.””

With road transport from Barham to Echuca, Dehne underwent surgery on the Sunday night, before being flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for further surgery.

“My external sphincter muscle was completely destroyed, requiring two reconstruction surgeries.”

Arriving home this week, the busy life of a mother and dairy farmer is on hold as she starts the estimated 6–8-month recovery.

“The support has been amazing. Friends and neighbours offering to help on the farm and cooking us food. My older son Dean Slattery, took the week off work to work on the farm. When he asked his boss Regan O’Brien if he could, he was like “absolutely, take as long as you need””

“My parents-in-law, Val and Trevor Dehne, have come out of retirement, and they’re all hands on deck now as well.”

“My poor mother is over from Ireland on holidays. Some holiday! She has been a super help since getting home, helping with the kids and laundry.”

“Oh my god, all the help has just been unbelievable.”

“I want to thank everyone who helped; the paramedics, nurses and doctors were all fantastic.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 12 February 2026.