A fundraiser for the family of a woman who drowned while rafting on Tasmania’s Franklin River has raised more than $24,000 in just hours, as friends remember her as “a living love letter to life”.
Karen Harrland, 49, from southern Tasmania, lost her life on Thursday, October 2, when her raft flipped in rapids near the Coruscades.
She was on the fifth day of what was meant to be a 10-day wilderness adventure with her husband Al and three close friends.
The GoFundMe campaign, organised by family friend Mandy Renard, has already drawn 199 donations towards a $35,000 target to support Karen’s husband and their three children.
“We would love to give Al, Asha, Clay and Zavier as much time and space as possible, with freedom from any practical concerns that we can lift from their shoulders,” Renard wrote.
“Alongside the unfathomable loss of darling Karen, the new reality this beloved family has to navigate will require significant resources and time away from work.”
Renard’s tribute painted a picture of a woman who embraced life completely – from teaching and storytelling to seeking out wild adventures.
“She had the warmth of a remote hut fire, the tenderness to cup heat-wearied desert birds in her hands and take them to water,” she said.
“The grit and wildness to jump out of aeroplanes, sidle up to Komodo dragons and giant cuttlefish.”
Karen, a Margate Primary School teacher, was also an award-winning author who won the 2014 Finch Memoir Prize at the Sydney Writers’ Festival for her book Spinifex Baby.
It explored the challenges of new motherhood while living and working in Australia’s Simpson Desert.
She was part of an experienced group of 11 rafters, made up of Tasmanian and interstate residents, who had organised the trip privately.
Tasmania Police said members of the rafting party performed CPR at the scene, but she could not be revived.
The group lost much of their camping gear in the incident, leaving them vulnerable in harsh conditions deep in the Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness Area.
Helicopter crews were unable to reach the site on Thursday due to poor weather and limited visibility, but returned the next morning and winched all 11 rafters to safety before flying them to Strahan.
No other members of the group suffered serious injuries.
Acting Inspector Russell Judges from Tasmania Police’s Marine and Rescue Western Division said the recovery was particularly challenging due to the remote and rugged terrain.
“This is a tragic incident in what was planned as an adventure for a group of friends who shared a passion for the Tasmanian wilderness,” he said.
Renard said Karen’s love of words connected her deeply to both her writers’ group and her teaching, where she built lasting bonds with students.
She also ran a Story Circle, guiding children “with her gentle hand to find and share their own voices”.
“Karen was so many things to so many people. An extraordinary life partner, mother, daughter and sister and a friend to many,” Renard said.
“She lives on through the lessons and love she gave to them all.”
