'Mystery couple' found after heroic rescue attempt at Paihia beach

Paihia couple Neil and Catherine Davidson are the ''mystery couple'' who tried heroically to save a man's life off Paihia beach in March and will be thanked by his friends.

A ''mystery couple'' who tried heroically to save a man's life in Paihia has been found.

In March Swedish couple Goran and Lena Bjorkman were visiting Northland with Kiwi friend Dave Branton.

Branton, 79, wanted to swim to a pontoon off Paihia beach but got into difficulty.

Bjorkman managed to get him to the pontoon where locals, other visitors and emergency services pitched in to help.

Sadly, Branton could not be saved, but the Bjorkmans were deeply moved by the community's response and set about thanking everyone who had come to their aid.

However, they were unable to track down a couple who were first on the scene, so they contacted the Advocate for help.

Bjorkman said the ''skilled, empathetic and kind'' couple started CPR and alerted people on shore to the emergency.

''You were the first ones that reached me on the pontoon, where I tried to save my friend. I cannot say how happy and relieved I was to see you.''

The couple, who had been swimming with a dog when the incident began, left before the Bjorkmans had a chance to say thank you or even get their names.

Swedish couple Lena and Goran Bjorkman have found the couple who tried to save their friend's life in Paihia. Photo / Supplied

Soon after their plea for help to find the couple was published, Catherine Davidson of Opua contacted the Advocate.

She had been swimming in Paihia with her husband Neil Davidson and their springer spaniel Digby when they noticed a man struggling to hold someone out of the water.

''We knew something wasn't right so we swam over as fast as we could.''

Once he was on the pontoon the couple took turns breathing and doing compressions, helped by another woman who swam from the beach (Vicki, a teacher from Stratford High School). A kayak instructor and a St John ambulance officer also paddled over with defibrillators.

''It was extremely sad. We wished we could have saved him. I felt so sorry for his friend, he was so distressed. I got him to keep talking to his friend,'' Davidson said.

When Branton was lifted on to a parasailing boat and whisked away, there was nothing more the Davidsons could do so they swam back to shore.

She was happy to be put in touch with Bjorkman.

''I'd love to talk to him and make sure he's okay. He was such a nice man.''

Although in this case the patient couldn't be saved, Davidson said the incident showed the value of knowing CPR. Both she and her husband were trained in CPR through their jobs with refresher courses every two years.

She also wanted to see a life ring installed on the pontoon.

''From the shore it doesn't look very far, but once you're in the water it is,'' she said.

Branton, who lived in Upper Hutt, met the Bjorkmans on a cruise in 2013. Since then he had twice been to visit them in Stockholm; in March the Bjorkmans finally paid him a return visit. They had been travelling around New Zealand together, starting in Northland.

■ If you live in the Paihia area and want to do CPR or defibrillator training, contact St John Paihia operations manager Shane Schrafft on shane.schrafft@stjohn.org.nz. If you live elsewhere contact your local St John or Red Cross.