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When Tiara Haenga got into trouble at Matapouri Beach in Northland, the 20-year-old called out to the one person she knew wouldn't let her down - her "Papa", Paku Rigby.
Within seconds, her 67-year-old grandfather was by her side and towing her to the safety of the shore.
But Mr Rigby's heroic actions ultimately cost him his own life when he ran out of energy and was dragged back out to sea.
"We always thought he was a hero but he proved it yesterday in more ways than one," Ms Haenga's mother Paula Rigby said last night. "He was just a really wonderful guy. He lived a good life and he wasn't perfect, but he was always there for you."
Ms Rigby and her family had travelled from Christchurch to Whangarei at the weekend to celebrate her father's 67th birthday and a relative's 21st.
On Monday, with only one day of their holiday left, they decided to go sightseeing and ended up at Matapouri.
It was about 5pm when Ms Haenga, who was swimming with her cousin and grandfather, got into difficulty.
"She told me she was yelling out, 'Papa, papa, I can't touch the ground'," Ms Rigby said. "He swam out to her and said, 'Just climb on my back, my girl, and I'll get you in'."
Mr Rigby got most of the way back to shore but it is believed he was pulled back out by a rip, while his granddaughter walked towards her mother on the beach.
"My daughter came up and said, 'Oh Mum I nearly drowned'. I said what happened and she said, 'Papa saved me'. Then I said to her, 'Well where's Papa, where's Papa', then I could see his board shorts floating out quite a way off the beach."
A relative tried to swim out but was unable to get to him. Surfers, a woman on a boogie board and a man from the beach also swam out.
"They managed to bring dad in but it took them a long time and they were fighting the surf all the way."
An off-duty policeman and nurse were unable to revive Mr Rigby on the beach. "I kinda already knew it was too late but they kept working until the helicopter came in and I really appreciate what they did."
Ms Rigby said her daughter was yesterday "pretty devastated because she's lost the most important person in her life. My dad's been both a father and a grandfather to her, and her staunch male role model."
"I just said to her, 'You know, my baby, your grandfather did the most wonderful thing in the world because if he hadn't gone out there and saved you and gave himself up then it would have been you'."
Ms Rigby said her father, who was originally from the Hawkes Bay, had grown up around the water and enjoyed fishing. He worked at the Lyttelton Port, had three grown children and was separated from his wife but they remained good friends.
Mr Rigby's body is to be returned to Christchurch, where his other daughter will mark her birthday today.
At Matapouri, local Maori have placed a three-day tapu on swimming at the beach and a seven-day ban on collecting shellfish.
additional reporting: Tony Gee
