Drowning victim Daniel Kelly’s mother responds to reports of lifeguards being abused

A Pāpāmoa mother whose son drowned at an Auckland beach is calling for people who verbally abuse lifeguards to face harassment charges.

It comes after a surf lifeguard was brought to tears after being verbally abused at Mount Maunganui Beach on Tuesday, being told she was “useless” and needed to “respond faster” as she went to the aid of a swimmer.

In a statement on Thursday, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand said the incident started when an unidentified man standing at the water’s edge waved over a female surf lifeguard and pointed at someone “ostensibly floating happily on their back” within the flagged area.

The lifeguard, who had already been monitoring the person, went to check on the swimmer’s welfare. As she ran past the man, he started verbally abusing her.

Upon returning to shore with the swimmer – who had reportedly felt out of her comfortable depth and accepted the offer of help back to shore – the man continued his abuse, bringing the surf lifeguard to tears.

A second lifeguard was grabbed “forcefully” as he tried to de-escalate the situation, the statement said.

It comes after reports lifeguards at Karioitahi Beach in Auckland were abused by swimmers last month.

Andrea Kelly, whose 18-year-old son Daniel drowned at Karioitahi Beach in April, told the Bay of Plenty Times on Thursday she “couldn’t believe it” when she read about lifeguards being abused at the same beach.

The reported abuse came just days before Hiran Joseph went missing on January 2 on Karioitahi Beach. His body was found on January 7.

“I am absolutely livid - it just triggers me fully … It is such a dangerous beach,” Kelly told the Bay of Plenty Times.

Pāpāmoa's Andrea Kelly lost her 18-year-old son, Daniel Kelly, when he disappeared while swimming off Karioitahi Beach in Auckland in April last year. Photo / Alex Cairns

“We’ve got disgusting statistics that my son is now one of and I admit, he made a mistake. He didn’t assess the water as it was,” Kelly said.

“I do think there should absolutely be charges of harassment if there’s any aggression, verbal abuse … because they’re literally saving lives.”

“They’re volunteers. Take care of them … they save so many people every year.”

Told about the incident at the Mount, she said she could not “fully comment” but the man’s reported abuse of the lifeguard seemed “a bit disproportionate”.

‘Respond faster’, lifeguard told

Surf Life Saving New Zealand eastern region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell told the Bay of Plenty Times the man swore at the lifeguard and told her “she wasn’t doing her job”.

He also told the lifeguard she was “useless” and that “she needed to respond faster”.

Gibbons-Campbell said lifeguards were trained to look for people in distress.

“This lady was obviously floating on her back out behind the breaks which, you know, she’s not in any immediate danger … so lifeguards weren’t too concerned.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand eastern region lifesaving manager Chaz Gibbons-Campbell. Photo / Alex Cairns

“But obviously the husband was, which is a genuine concern that family members have for their loved ones.”

Gibbons-Campbell said lifeguards were “more than happy” to check on people in the water and report back.

“But they don’t come to work to be yelled at.

“We understand that when people are in a bit of distress that they’re not always calm.

“It’s just taking a couple of deep breaths and clearly communicate to the lifeguards what you are needing and they’re more than happy to do that.”

Gibbons-Campbell said the club was supporting the affected lifeguards and assured them they did the right thing in this situation.

He said the majority of interactions eastern region lifeguards were having with the public were “really positive”.

“This instance is pretty rare and probably an isolated incident.”

He said an online report had been filed with police to record the incident.

A police spokeswoman said police “spoke to those involved and it was resolved, with support in place for the lifeguard”. No charges had been laid.

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.