Vain and Kimmy Tauri-Tei got into trouble in a rip at Sunset Beach in Port Waikato. Photo/ Supplied
A pregnant woman who almost drowned wants to meet the man who saved her.
Kimmy Tauri-Tei exhausted herself swimming against a rip for more than 20 minutes while constantly throwing up sea water. She is 10 weeks pregnant. Photographer Todd Eyre swam out to be by her side and keep her calm until help came.
Tauri Tei and her brother Vain, both 20 as they are two siblings from a triplet, were swimming in the shallows at low tide around at Sunset Beach in Port Waikato on Thursday.
Tauri-Tei is usually a strong swimmer but Vain can't swim. So when he got caught he in a rip she was worried he wouldn't be able to get himself out.
She swam out to calm him down and they got back in together. But just as they regained their footing a huge wave crashed over Tauri-Tei dragging her out into the rip.
"It swept me under and swept me back out to sea.
"I did panic. I tried to stay calm so I could save my energy. Then I saw Todd coming out towards me.
"By the time he got out to me I was already exhausted. I couldn't even swim."
Eyre told the Herald there was little he could do when he reached Tauri-Tei.
"I just started talking to her and tried to calm her down. I just knew that I wasn't strong enough to swim her back in under those conditions.
"She was highly distressed and not in great shape - she was exhausted. So I talked to her, tried to calm her down, slow her breathing, and where possible conserve energy.
"I held her hand because she wanted someone to hold on to - which was dangerous in those conditions because people can get agitated and climb on to you for buoyancy and take you under."
The whole time Tauri-Tei was swallowing seawater and vomiting.
A friend of Eyre's on the beach called over two surfers, Hamish Neilands, 20, from Tuakau, and Matt Henderson, 18, from Onewhero, who brought their boards out to rescue the pair.
As Tauri-Tei escaped the turgid sea she felt sick.
"I felt like my body was giving way. I couldn't hear anyone, I couldn't even see anyone. And my body was so numb from the cold. The only thing I could hear was the waves.
"It's scary it's really scary you don't know if you're going to survive or what to even think. You're thinking negative thoughts."
Tauri-Tei went to Middlemore Hospital that afternoon with her family. There she was told her baby would be ok and she was fine.
She wanted to get in touch with Eyre and thank him for saving her life.
Eyre was reluctant to be called a hero.
"I was just there, it was just good timing so I sort of didn't think about it. If I had, I might not have done it. I'm just glad that she's okay. It all turned out well and that's what matters."
Sunset Beach Surf Lifesaving Club president Malcolm Beattie said a massive riptide, around 100m wide and 400m long, has formed in the middle of the beach this year, making the area extremely dangerous at outgoing tides and when the tide is turning.
Beattie has patrolled the beach for 40 years and said the rip is "the worst we've had for many years".
"It is extremely dangerous, and people should not be swimming at West Coast beaches with no patrols on - they are courting danger."