Young dad died from asphyxia by sand after medical event on Kāpiti beach

Warning: this story contains details that may be upsetting for some readers.

Andre Bradshaw died doing what he loved, walking along the beach with his 2-year-old daughter Skyla.

He was kind. A beloved friend, son and father who volunteered a decade of his life to help animals at the SPCA. He loved his daughter with his whole heart.

In the words of the woman who raised him, his guardian Mary Coppins, “he was just wonderful”.

When the 25-year-old died suddenly, in front of his daughter, on Kāpiti Coast’s Raumati Beach earlier this year, his family was unsure of the exact circumstances.

But today, a coroner’s findings have finally provided them with answers.

Andre Bradshaw would often take his daughter Skyla for 'dad-daughter' dates at Catch Sushi in Wellington.

The cause was asphyxia by sand which occurred after he suffered a medical event and fell face down onto the sand.

A post-mortem examination following his death found fragments of sand in his windpipe and lungs.

According to Coroner Mark Wilton’s findings, the Wellington builder and his daughter were walking together along Raumati Beach around midday on June 28.

He was last seen alive by Skyla’s mother, Meya Cameron, at 11.50am.

An hour later, his death was confirmed by paramedics after he was found unresponsive on the beach by a member of the public.

Bradshaw had a medical history that included a remote seizure-like disorder which was attributed to a conversion disorder, Coroner Wilton said in his findings.

He also had a nerve condition thought to be related to chronic regional pain syndrome.

The night before his death, Bradshaw presented at an after-hours medical centre complaining of severe upper back and neck pain, for which he was prescribed tramadol.

Bradshaw and his daughter were walking along Raumati Beach, located on the Kāpiti Coast, when he collapsed. Photo / David Haxton

Forensic pathologist Dr Judy Melinek, who conducted the post-mortem examination, advised Bradshaw’s cardiovascular disease and seizure-like disorder “were significant contributory conditions that reasonably explain his sudden collapse and subsequent asphyxiation.

“Dr Melinek also advises that the presence of three different viruses in Mr Bradshaw’s system at the time of his death could have caused Mr Bradshaw’s collapse and aspiration as well.”

Those viruses were human parainfluenza virus 3, influenza type b, and rhinovirus/enterovirus infections.

Coroner Wilton said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Bradshaw’s death and no inquest was held.

Des and Mary Coppins, the couple who raised Bradshaw from a young age, spoke to NZME about the “kind” and “wonderful” person he was.

In the days after his death, their home was filled with people mourning his loss, they said.

Meya Cameron was approached for comment by NZME but declined.

However, in a Givealittle page she created to raise funds for their daughter, she said Bradshaw had died doing what he loved the most, and that was going to the beach with Skyla.

“We are in complete shock. Skyla was everything to Andre and Skyla will always look up to her Dada.”

Hazel Osborne is an Open Justice reporter for NZME and is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. She joined the Open Justice team at the beginning of 2022, previously working in Whakatāne as a court and crime reporter in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.