Drowned teen 'just getting his life together'

Joanne Alualu (in white t-shirt) is comforted as her brother's body is recovered from the water. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Teenager Raphael Alualu was just beginning to make something of his life when it was tragically cut short.

The Mt Roskill 17-year-old drowned while on a field trip with a group of students from the School of Business in Newmarket on Tuesday.

Yesterday, at the scene in Takapuna, his older sister Joanne - her eyes red - said Raphael had just started making moves to get his life together. "I'm just gutted. He was finally getting on track and he was going to start looking for a job."

Raphael attended Marcellin College and nearby Mt Roskill Grammar School before enrolling in the Newmarket business school.

He was the middle child of three and was also a twin whose sibling died at birth.

His mother is in Samoa and was yesterday trying to arrange a flight home after being told of the tragedy.

Joanne Alualu said her brother could be "a bit of a rebel" at times, but was loving and loved by his family.

"We were really close. We were buddies," she said.

Relative Chris Lautua said his cousin was always joking.

"He was always on [social networking site] Bebo and putting dumb comments on my page," he said fondly.

The 17-year-old's body was found early yesterday morning after he had jumped into a swimming hole next to Lake Pupuke, on the North Shore, the day before.

As police divers pulled a raft carrying Raphael's body from the lake, his friends surrounded him protectively.

Family members sobbed and wailed, clutching one another and calling out his name.

Raphael had been with several students who jumped into the water from a 10m cliff on Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses said that after leaping into the water, he surfaced briefly but went under again.

Emergency services were called when he did not resurface, and police divers later began a search.

At the site yesterday morning, shortly before his body was found, family members gathered and watched the search.

The teenager's father, Alo Alualu, sat at the lake's edge, looking towards the spot where his son was last seen, occasionally removing his glasses to wipe away tears.

Mr Lautua and Ms Alualu both stressed that people - particularly Pacific Islanders - needed to exercise greater safety around water.

"You think that just because you're an Islander and we're surrounded by water back home [in the islands] that you're a good swimmer, and that's not always true," Ms Alualu said.

Mr Lautua said he hoped his cousin's death would act as a lesson. "We really need to educate Pacific people more about water safety. He wasn't a confident swimmer, but hey, when you're 17, you're invincible."

School of Business owner Lyndon Cooper was to meet an independent investigator yesterday to "make sure our policies and procedures are rigid", he said.

He was yet to speak to the tutor who was in charge of the students on Tuesday afternoon.

- additional reporting by Andrew Koubaridis