“It was a very hard and tough situation because they sold all of their property and spent a lot of money to come here,” she said.
The couple’s children, aged 3 and 5, were in Vietnam with their grandparents.
“His family faced great financial hardship, and he was the main worker for the family,” Pham said.
“With [Nguyen’s] visa tied to her husband’s, she now faces an uncertain future with just over a year remaining, not knowing where to go.”
Pham put a call out to members of New Zealand’s 11,000-strong Vietnamese community to raise money for Nhung and her two children.
Police recovered the body of Tran Duy Quyen on Piha Beach last Tuesday after he fell into the water on January 9.“I shared my account and people deposited into it. Community members also gave Nhung cash,” she said.
Within two days, $47,389 was raised by more than 500 donations.
Quyen’s wife returned to Vietnam with her husband’s ashes following a ceremony at the Chùa Giác Nhiên temple in Ōtāhuhu.
“She doesn’t know what to do or whether to come back to New Zealand. It’s uncertain at this stage,” Pham said.
She said it was heartening to see Vietnamese Kiwis raising tens of thousands of dollars off the back of tragedy.
Piha is regarded as notoriously dangerous with a number of drownings, rescue incidents and near-misses reported over the years.
A woman died after being pulled from a rip tide at the beach in November last year.
David Williams is an Auckland-based Multimedia Journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.
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