Tragedy overtakes man gathering scallops near Maketu

Friends Anthony Harlen and Sarah Bridgens helped try to save the life of an Asian man who died while shell fishing in the surf near the Kaituna Cut, Maketu. Photo/George Novak

An Asian man understood to be visiting family in Tauranga died while collecting scallops in the surf near Maketu.

Papamoa woman Sarah Bridgens tried to revive him using chest compressions, but there was no pulse.

She was with a group of friends fishing at the Kaituna Cut river mouth today when they saw the man waist-deep in the surf, about 500m up the beach towards Maketu.

Daniel Covich of Maketu recalled thinking what a strange sight it was. "I said, he's keen, look how far out he is."

After watching him for a while, the friends returned to their fishing and the next thing he saw was "an old Maori fella" running towards them.

"I knew something was wrong," Mr Covich said.

Ms Bridgens rang 111 and then took off to help. When she reached the scene, the man was in the recovery position being attended by his father and his father's friend. She learned the father's friend had tried mouth-to-mouth.

She said the man was purple and foaming at the mouth. "It was clear he had gone, but we still tried."'

"We came out for a day's fishing - I am still in shock," she said.

Mr Covich said the man was wearing a wet suit and had been fishing for scallops, using a bucket tied around his waist with rope. They suspect he became tangled up in the rope and drowned.

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Anthony Harlen, who assisted St John Ambulance staff with taking first aid equipment to the scene, said it was horrible to see the man had lost his life.

He said the ambulance people were struggling carrying all their stuff down the 500m to where the man was lying on the beach. "I grabbed the kit and sprinted down the beach."

Mr Harlen said the man had been dead for half an hour when he arrived.

Looking back on the afternoon's events, he said he found it strange to see the man out in the surf. The tide was turning and the beach dropped off around where he was fishing.

"It was unusual for someone to be out there. If we had kept our eyes on him then we may have saved his life."

It was clear to him that the fisherman was not a local and did not know local conditions.
"I find it quite sad."

The friends were told that the man was visiting family and staying at a backpackers.

The body was retrieved by the Maketu Fire Brigade using a quad bike.

Tauranga police said inquiries into the death were under way and next of kin were being informed. A member of the public pulled the man out of the water and performed CPR, police said. No further information was available.

Maketu Fire Brigade was alerted to a possible drowning about 1.30pm. When the crew arrived a man in a wetsuit had been brought to shore and family members were giving him CPR, fire chief Shane Beech said.