Hīkoi heads for Parliament, leaders meet at Apec summit and Russian missiles put Poland and Hungary on edge.
Jordan Adams, 18, drowned in the Waiwhakaiho River after drinking with workmates in November 2021.
Coroner Heidi Wrigley found alcohol and the river’s high, dangerous conditions contributed to his death.
His father, Simon, raised over $37,000 for Surf Life Saving NZ after his son’s death.
Jordan Adams had been drinking with workmates for most of the day when they decided to jump into a fast-flowing, swollen river.
The 18-year-old was a confident swimmer and made it back to shore. But, he wasn’t so lucky on his second jump, surfacing only briefly before disappearing beneath the murky water.
His body was discovered later that night at the mouth of Waiwhakaiho River, near New Plymouth.
Now a coroner has found the level of alcohol consumed and the state of the river each played a role in the November 2021 tragedy.
Jordy Adams was a confident swimmer but drowned after jumping into a swollen river after drinking.
Following his death, Adams’ father Simon raised over $37,000 for Surf Life Saving NZ by running four marathons on four consecutive weekends in 2022.
“He was confident around the water and still made a wrong choice jumping into the river,” Simon Adams told NZME at the time.
“I think a lot of drownings in New Zealand happen [because of] simple things, like not putting on a life jacket or not worrying about weather conditions, and jumping straight into the water.”
Simon Adams holding an image of his son who drowned in 2021. Photo / Alyssa Smith
Simon Adams said his son was a confident swimmer, had been involved with the Ōpunake Surf Life Saving Club as a child, and loved to water ski
“He lived life to the full. He really did. It was quite amazing how much he packed into 18 years, which means there are lots of memories to hang on to.
“At the same time, it’s a double-edged sword, with so much potential that he never got to live out.”
Coroner Heidi Wrigley decided an inquest was not necessary to determine the cause of death and instead made her findings on the papers.
In those findings, she noted the Waiwhakaiho River was flowing high due to high rainfall in Egmont National Park.
Adams worked for an electrical contracting company and had been at a work function since 10am, after which he and his colleagues travelled to Ōpunake and began drinking.
At about 3.30pm they left Ōpunake and travelled North to Ōakura, where they had some food and continued drinking at a bar.
Adams’ manager said he didn’t believe the group was too intoxicated and was in “good spirits”.
Another member of the group said they’d been drinking all day and had consumed roughly 10-12 standards each.
Jordy Adams had been drinking with workmates earlier in the day. Photo / Supplied
‘Far too dangerous’
The group returned to the workshop about 5pm and made a collective decision to walk to the nearby river for a swim.
One of the members described the river as “way too high and was far too dangerous” as well as being in flood.
Another member of the group reported the water looked “really dirty”, and the water level was “very high … and flowing fast, too”.
Photos of the river provided to the coroner showed areas of rapids and whitewater, while the river appeared swollen with brown-coloured water.
Simon Adams (left) and Jordy Adams at the top of Mt Taranaki. Photo / Supplied
Three of the work group jumped in, with Adams going first and having no apparent difficulty swimming back to the water’s edge. Adams then went back up the bank and jumped in again.
Witnesses watched as he resurfaced, tried to grab a rock and missed and his manager said he saw him make three or four strokes before disappearing around a bend in the river. His colleagues then called emergency services for help.
Adams was found dead just after 9pm with injuries to his face.
A pathologist later concluded that drowning was the cause of death and noted a pattern of injuries to Adams’ head and shoulders raised the possibility he had hit his head on the riverbed.
The pathologist also found Adams’ blood alcohol level was 187mg per 100ml of blood. This would have put him above the legal limit for driving.
Coroner Wrigley found despite Adams not appearing overtly intoxicated, she was satisfied due to the pathologist’s findings that he was adversely affected by alcohol at the time of his death.
“One way in which Jordan’s acute use of alcohol likely contributed to his death is by compromising his judgment and decision-making. I consider his intoxication helps explain his very unwise decision to jump into a plainly unsafe river not once, but twice.
“Additionally, Jordan’s intoxication likely impacted on his coordination in a way that made him less able to swim to safety and compromised his ability to cope underwater.”
Coroner Wrigley said alcohol played a significant role in river drownings in New Zealand and made recommendations that were supplemented by information provided by Water Safety NZ.
Among those recommendations was not to swim in rivers after consuming alcohol and not to not swim in rivers exhibiting dangerous conditions such as rapids, white water, high flow and muddy water.
Simon Adams said there were no surprises in the Coroner’s report.
“We knew that he’d been drinking and that the river was really in flood. It just came down to a poor decision in making that jump.”
Simon said that while his son was a strong swimmer the river was flowing so fast that even if Jordan had been sober he would have likely run into difficulty.
“If you’re drinking then don’t head out in the water,” he said.
“But I know there’s a lot of people that still won’t heed that advice.”
Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.
