Kathy Le Haavre was on holiday and showing Tony Brooks a beach she was familiar with from her childhood when the pair spotted a man being dragged out to sea.
“We said, ‘Oh God, let’s go’, and we just ran [to help],” Le Haavre told the NZ Herald.
Le Haavre, a nurse, spent half an hour giving the man CPR before paramedics arrived on the scene, but he was later confirmed to have died. The deceased was confirmed as orchardist Ian Cruickshank of Takapau, in central Hawkes Bay. The partner of one of Cruickshank’s daughters was identified as the patient who was airlifted to Waikato Hospital, where he is recovering.
Sadly, the body of Ian’s son Samuel Cruickshank was recovered three days later by a member of the public near Slipper Island/Whakahau after an extensive co-ordinated search. Police were alerted about 1.30pm, following the discovery. The deaths will be referred to the Coroner.
Police said they would like to acknowledge all those involved in the search operation including partner agencies, Surf Life Saving New Zealand, NZ Coastguard, LandSAR, Fenz, and the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Around 2.40am on Thursday, January 19, emergency services confirmed they were alerted to a water incident where a person was missing. They attended and found the teen in the water. He could not be revived.
The deceased was identified as 19-year-old Cameron Cumming.
It is understood the young man was in a car with a group of friends when they stopped in the dark along Tapu Coroglen Rd in Coromandel. The circumstances of his death are believed to have involved an early morning toilet stop on the side of the road, from which Cumming is understood to have lost his footing and fallen into a creek.
The road runs alongside the Waiwawa River and is right by the roadside in many parts.
“It was an absolute tragedy, and I feel for his family, but also the friends with him,” one person near the Waiwawa River said.
“His friends were frantically trying to find him, but they [hadn’t] been able to so [they] called emergency services straight away.”
Another local said they understood Cumming had hit his head falling into the water.
There had also been another earlier water-related incident in the Coromandel around lunchtime on January 19 involving emergency services - this time at Hahei Beach. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. Police advised they received a report of an incident in Hahei about 12.40pm, whereby a group of swimmers appeared to be struggling in the water. One person was taken away by ambulance in a moderate condition.
Water Safety NZ CEO Daniel Gerrard says the significant number of drownings in the Coromandel over a short period has been a tragedy.
“I guess it’s nice weather, [the sun’s] out and people are just wanting to get out and enjoy the environment that we live in, but it’s about managing the risk and having the knowledge and skills to keep yourself and your family sort of safe,” he said.
Gerrard said unpatrolled beaches need more signage to warn beachgoers of potential dangers.
He also said rescue equipment such as rescue tubes or even flippers should be left at unpatrolled beaches so public members could use them if needed.
When speaking of the Opoutere event, Gerrard said: “The family’s situation could have been far worse if there hadn’t been that number of skilled, aware and knowledgeable people on the beach.”
