KEY POINTS:
A toddler drowned in a lagoon on Saturday despite a frantic search by volunteers after the child wandered away from his parents.
The tragedy came as statistics are released that will show a record low drowning toll last year.
The toddler, 23-month-old Kauri Jaydon Joseph Ngahuka, was out with his family at the busy Ocean Beach lagoon, 18km southeast of Havelock North, when he wandered away.
Mike and Jewel Ngahuka had taken young Kauri to the beach along with their other children, Genesis and Israel.
Director of lifeguarding at Ocean Beach Walter Aoake was in the club headquarters at 6pm when the boy's distressed mother called for help telling lifeguards that she had lost her child.
"The patrol swung into action," Mr Aoake said.
While the lifeguards had retired from their duties earlier, most were still around and mounted a search, he said.
The boy was found in the lagoon by lifeguards, who brought him out of the water.
A doctor and nurse attended to the boy.
"Everyone tried their best to resuscitate the boy, but to no avail and we lost him," Mr Aoake said.
Police were first on the scene, followed by ambulance and the rescue helicopter.
Mr Aoake said the drowning reinforced the fact it "only takes seconds" for tragedy to strike in water.
He said it was never easy to lose a life on the beach, but the lifeguards reacted as trained, and unlike a successful rescue on New Year's eve, this time they "could not save the little boy".
The boy and his parents were taken from the beach by ambulance.
A crowd of about 100 people were still on the beach when Kauri disappeared and some assisted in the search.
Mr Aoake said the crowd that gathered reacted to instructions and it was good to know people would help in an emergency.
A woman in a neighbouring bach, who did not want to be named, said she was alerted to the missing tot when members of the public rushed over asking whether anyone had seen a "wee boy".
Her friends, a visiting doctor and nurse, raced off to help.
When the boy was recovered, the pair, aided by another medical professional who was spending the day at the beach, tried to revive him.
The woman said the boy had been missing for about 30 minutes before he was pulled from the water, and it was too late to revive him.
The doctor, nurse and medical crews spent about 45 minutes working on the toddler.
Later that evening the lifeguards returned with local whanau for a blessing.
The service and burial for Kauri will be held at the Omahu Marae on Wednesday.
* The grim start to this year includes the death of a mother of one on Saturday, and that of a 38-year-old man on Friday.
The two adults were diving when they died.
The deaths come just after Water Safety New Zealand celebrated the "milestone achievement" of only two drowning deaths over the Christmas and New Year holiday period. The average for the past 10 years was 11.
Today, Water Safety plans to give figures showing last year's total was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1980.
Operations manager Matt Claridge said the three deaths since Friday were tragic "especially when safety messages or hazards are easily identifiable".
"Diving in itself is a fairly fulfilling activity, but there are risks associated with it."
January was always one of the worst months.
- Jarrod Booker and HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
