Harlem Scalabrini describes how he tried to rescue a drowning man off Red Beach, north of Auckland.
Two strangers pulled an unresponsive paddler on to rocks this morning after an outrigger capsized off Auckland’s Red Beach.
One rescuer told the Herald the man was face down in the water. He and a nearby resident jumped into the ocean and swam to him in a bid to save his life.
The man was airlifted to Stanmore Bay, but was pronounced dead soon afterwards.
A heroic member of the public has detailed how he and another man leaped into action, jumping into the ocean and swimming to retrieve the upturned craft and a man face down in the water off Red Beach this morning.
Harlem Scalabrini, 31, told the Herald he was driving to work and in a last-minute decision, pulled into a carpark on Duncansby Rd on the Hibiscus Coast to have his breakfast.
“I just noticed a police helicopter circling really intensely [over the water] and thought to myself, ‘Imagine if someone is drowning down there’,” he said.
Scalabrini got out of his truck and walked down towards the beach, where he saw the capsized outrigger, stranded on a lone rock. He and a resident on Duncansby Rd decided to run over in hopes of a rescue while it was low tide.
“I was in panic mode, I started running. I just wanted to get to that outrigger,” he said.
When he got to a nearby rock, Scalabrini noticed something attached to the boat with a strap, floating about 2m away from it.
Emergency services received reports of an overturned outrigger off Auckland's Red Beach shortly before 7.30am on Tuesday.
“It looked like a bag floating at first, but then I knew it wasn’t a bag.
“I just looked up to the police helicopter and started screaming, ‘There’s a body, there’s a body’ and was making hand gestures.
“I looked back and all the ambulance people were still back at the carpark. I don’t know why nobody was running. I was telling everyone to hurry up because he might still be alive.”
Scalabrini said he and the other man jumped into the water and swam to the man, untied him from the kayak and pulled him to a safe spot.
“I grabbed him by his ankles and the other man was supporting his head, he was pretty heavy.”
He said he put the man in the recovery position “just in case” before the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed on a larger rock off the beach.
“A man jumped out and thanked me. I walked over to the [unresponsive] man and I put my hand on his shoulder and I prayed for him,” Scalabrini said.
Harlem Scalabrini was first on the scene and pulled the man, who was face down, from the water in a desperate bid to save his life.
The man was airlifted to Stanmore Bay, where he was pronounced dead.
Scalabrini said the helicopter crew asked him and the other rescuer to drag the outrigger back to the beach, but they were intercepted by a police boat, which the craft was loaded on to.
“After that everyone left and it was just me and the other guy again. It was either go back to work or go home.”
He said they remained at the scene for some time talking to ambulance staff, but no police vehicles turned up.
“A lot of the neighbours were concerned about me. They told me to come have a coffee with them, so I did, and I still didn’t see any police come or hear any sirens.”
He said he was hesitant to touch the man at first, but thought to himself: “No, this is what you have to do, you’ve got to bring this man up, this man is loved.”
He had noticed the man – who he believed was in his 40s – had a wedding ring and said he was praying for his family.
Asked how he was feeling after the incident, Scalabrini told the Herald, “I’m not too sure to be honest.
“I feel happy that he was with that kayak and he didn’t get lost.”
He said the man was wearing “proper kayaking clothes” with a long compression shirt, so he found peace in the fact the man probably “died doing what he loved”.
Police earlier said their thoughts were with the community after this morning’s incident.
“Inquiries will be carried out on behalf of the coroner.”
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter confirmed a crew was sent to an area near Red Beach about 7.30am to an unresponsive person in the water, but referred all questions to police.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.
