Woman's haunting three last words before she was killed by crocodile in front of friend

What should have been a joyful celebration of a significant milestone between two friends instead turned into an unthinkable tragedy.

Cindy Waldron and her childhood friend, Leeann Mitchell, had set out on a journey to celebrate Leeann completing her cancer treatment.

Thrilled to be there for her friend, Cindy had made the trip from New South Wales to Thornton Beach near Cairns in Queensland, Australia to honor the remarkable accomplishment.

The duo, both originally from New Zealand, were wading in the cool waters at Australia’s Daintree National Park on May 29 2016, when Cindy felt something terrifyingly brush against her leg. Witnesses reported hearing her scream “a croc’s got me, a croc’s got me”.

Leeann frantically attempted to rescue her friend and drag her to shore, but the massive 16 foot crocodile overpowered her efforts and Cindy was dragged away, reports the Daily Star.

Leeann told 7 News Spotlight: “We just wanted to run around, and that’s exactly what we did, and in the process of doing that, we ended up on the waters’ edge.

“It was really dark. Cindy’s back was to the water and mine was to the beach and we were laughing and then Cindy cried out to me and she said: ‘It’s got me.'”.

“I thought that it was just that fright you get when you get in the water and something like seaweed brushes past you and so I put my arms out and she took my arms. “I said: ‘I’ve got you babe…it’s ok, I’ve got you. ‘ She was holding me and I was holding her.

“We were pulled…the force was incredible. And in that, I lost (grip) of one arm then we stopped and we’d travelled a big distance…I couldn’t feel the ground any longer. I realised there was something and I put my hand out and I felt the top of its head. Then I started trying to punch and trying to fight and I was screaming.

“Then all of a sudden, we were taken again with the same amount of force. I held on as much as I could. I was clawing onto her arm and I was trying to get the other arm up to try and grab her. I couldn’t, I couldn’t. And then, she was gone.”

Leeann received hospital treatment for shock, along with puncture wounds to her arm.

The 46-year-old’s grief-stricken sister characterized her death as “the worst nightmare. She said: ” She said: “[It’s] probably the most heartbreaking, horrendous thing that’s ever happened to any of us really, in our family,” she said.

“They were just wading and then something like this happens out of the blue. It gives me nightmares to think about it.”

Mere hours before the tragedy unfolded, Cindy had messaged her father, Patrick, sharing details about the trip. He said: “She sent a message on Facebook two hours before that happened, to say ‘I’m on the beach, it’s a lovely place, I’m having a ball’.”