Grieving mother's last regret

Jason Mikaere. Photo / Supplied

When new Plymouth woman Carolyn Mikaere was offered a free trip to Australia in September to see her son for the first time in more than a decade, she turned it down because she did not want to leave her elderly mother.

It is a decision Mikaere rues after her son, Jason Mikaere, drowned in the Logan River, south of Brisbane, on December 22.

"My sister wanted to send me over but I didn't want to leave my mother," Mikaere said.

Jason Mikaere, 45, who lived in New Plymouth and Auckland before moving to Australia in 1999, disappeared while swimming with his partner's daughter and his niece.

"He told the kids he could swim to the other side [of the river] but he only made it halfway."

Police found his body a day later, much to the relief of the family as sharks have been sighted in the river.

Mikaere and other family members went to Australia to support Jason Mikaere's son, Cairo Twidle, 20, and make arrangements for a funeral this Tuesday.

They will bring his ashes back to New Zealand to be buried alongside his father and younger sister, who died at 2 months in 1970.

Mikaere said the eldest of her five children was a loving and caring person.

"He was a lovely boy."

He particularly loved children, especially his son and eldest niece.