Gisborne surfing community mourns sudden death

File photo / Alan Gibson

Gisborne's surfing community is in shock after the sudden death of one of its popular members last night.

Colin Cranston, 51, was surfing with friends at Makorori Point, 4km northeast of the city, when one of them saw him face-down in the water.

"He started yelling that his mate was down," said Shane Hooks, who was also in the area.

"My mate took a board and I swam him in. He was unconscious and not breathing.

"When we got him to the beach, we went hard for about 20 minutes giving him CPR but he did not respond."

By the time paramedics arrived about 8.30pm, there was nothing more that could be done.

"They said he had probably passed away before we got to him," said Mr Hooks.

Mr Cranston was the brother of district councillor Andy Cranston and father to several children, two of whom were still living at home with him.

"He was a pretty well-liked guy around the place," said Mr Hooks.

"He had been having a good time and was getting some great waves before we found him."

Andy Cranston said his brother had heart tests last month after having chest pains a couple of weeks ago.

But he had been told his heart was okay.

The family would not know what caused his death until after an autopsy was carried out.

- NZPA