Desperate swimmer pulled unresponsive woman ashore in one of two Auckland beach tragedies this afternoon

A swimmer at a North Shore beach helped pull an unconscious woman to shore in a desperate bid to save her life, in one of two Auckland water tragedies today.

Two people have died after separate incidents this afternoon.

Emergency services received a report of someone in difficulty in the water at Narrow Neck Beach about 4.30pm.

Police said the woman was brought to shore, but could not be revived and died.

The death will be referred to the Coroner.

A swimmer at the beach who helped pull the woman ashore told the Herald he’d hoped he could save her life.

”A lady pointed to the person and said ‘is she all right?’ and 10 metres away was a lady upside down in the water,” he said.

”She was upside down for quite a long time.”

The man turned her over and saw she was unconscious, then proceeded to pull her ashore.

”She was completely unresponsive, I was just thinking about pulling her ashore and hopefully I can save her,” he said.

”An off-duty lifeguard ran down to the beach and helped me pull her ashore and he just did his thing.

“There were about 15 people all doing our bit to try and save her while we waited for the ambulance to arrive.

”There was nothing we could do. It’s not the best way to end a Friday.”

One person died following a water-related incident near Auckland's Narrow Neck Beach. January 20, 2023. Photo / Aja Lethaby

Meanwhile, a second person died in a water-related accident further north at Big Manly Beach, on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

A resident said he saw a person being pulled unresponsive from the water about 5pm.

Manly resident Johnny Lind said he saw someone floating face down in the water.

”He was swimming and we saw out of our window his buttocks sticking up. We thought he may have been snorkelling as a lot of people do that here,” Lind said.

“He was pulled ashore by bystanders, and as we speak he’s on the beach. There’s lots of people around, emergency services attending to him and they’re trying to shield him off with some sheets.

“I could see he was totally white. His face was completely pale.”

St John sent an ambulance after receiving a call at 4.57pm.

Police said emergency services responded but the person was found dead.

The death will be referred to the Coroner.

Horror week sees seven die in water-related incidents

Including today’s two deaths at Auckland beaches, at least seven people have died in water-related incidents around the country in the past week.

A man’s body was found in Lake Wakatipu near Glenorchy today after going missing when trying to save a child yesterday.

He was visiting from Australia and his fiancée watched yesterday’s attempted rescue unfold from the shore.

In a separate but similar incident at the same spot in Otago, a man died in the lake on Friday, January 13.

Emergency services rushed to the mouth of the Rees River where Leeroy Kaaho 48, also known as Linkin Kisling, of Wanaka, died after going in to help his 10-year-old son, who survived.

A rescue helicopter found a man, unresponsive, after he went missing in the water at Whangamatā on Tuesday night, in the first of a string of deaths in the Coromandel.

Husband and father Ian Cruickshank died at nearby Ōpoutere on Wednesday after the extended family group he was with got into trouble in the water.

The partner of one of Cruickshank’s daughters was also with the family and had to be airlifted to hospital, where he is recovering.

A search is still under way for his son, Samuel Cruickshank.

Acting Senior Sergeant Will Hamilton of Whangamatā said “a number of people, services and resources” had been involved in the search throughout the day yesterday.

One person died the next day in a water-related incident near Coroglen, also in Coromandel.

More to come