As gravity took hold, Kane Powell saw the rocks at least 8m beneath him. He knew he was going to hit them.
The 28-year-old had been swimming with a friend at Te Puke’s Raparapahoe Stream off No. 4 Rd. The swimming hole, less than a kilometre from No. 3 Rd, was one he had visited before to jump from a bridge into the deep, cool, water below.
On Sunday, Powell decided to jump from a nearby bank instead. He felt a twinge of doubt, but ignored it.
“I sort of did a run and jump from the road.”
Powell had forgotten about a hidden knob of rock that stuck out about 8m below.
“I jumped as I made it to the [edge] of the bank but I saw it was too late. I knew I was going to hit it. It was pretty scary,” he said.
“There were quite a few kids around and families. We all realised it was too late for me.”
In those fleeting seconds of gravity taking hold, mid-air, Powell had the presence of mind to tuck his lower left leg up and try to shift to his side to try to protect his ankles.
“I’m extremely lucky I haven’t broken anything. But my knee – there’s a few bits of bone floating around in there apparently. My left leg is extremely swollen. It’s quite sore. The whole underneath of my thigh is bruised black and purple. It’s like jelly.
“I’m really lucky.”
Powell returned home on Tuesday sore and tired but grateful.
Revisiting the bank on Wednesday, Powell said the ACC ad that asked, “if you get hurt, who gets harmed?” came to mind.
“I just really want to thank everyone who helped me,” he said.
The orchard worker said he was likely to be off work at least 18 days.
Witness Nate Blayney was with his partner, friends and children when they saw Powell on top of the bank.
“He was about to run and jump. I thought ‘s***, that’s going to be a f*** up’. I could just see it happening.
“I heard him splat on the rocks. He went down into the water. I waited for him to come back up, he was a bit distressed. I got him and swam him out. My buddy jumped on the phone to the ambulance.”
The local said he and his friends were “avid river swimmers” and people had been jumping off that bridge and bank for years. He had never seen something like this.
“He broke a boulder. He smoked a good bit of the rock off.”
“It’s just a human error. I don’t consider it [the area] dangerous at all. Mistakes happen.”
Western Bay of Plenty District Council reserves and facilities manager Peter Watson said there was a risk swimming at any natural water bodies, including the No. 4 Rd bridge, that weather events could change the environment.
The council did not promote or manage the area as a swimming hole.
Kiri Gillespie is an assistant news director and a senior journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, specialising in local politics and city issues. She was a finalist for the Voyager Media Awards Regional Journalist of the Year in 2021.