Bride-to-be collapses on field

Latoya Payne. Photo / Supplied

The devastated parents of a young woman who passed away suddenly during a touch rugby game have spoken of desperate attempts to revive her in front of her family and fiance.

And they want young people to take a leaf from her book and live life to the fullest, before it's too late.

Latoya Payne, 23, took to the touch field at Moire Park in Massey, West Auckland on February 24 to play the game she had loved since she was 8.

But unlike most games she played, she subbed off for a rest and collapsed in her mother Maria's arms moments later.

"When she fainted I happened to be there on the sideline," said Maria. "It made it easier that we were all there.

"It would have been harder if we had a police officer at the door telling us, but with all of us being there ... it wasn't easy but it was easier to accept."

After Latoya collapsed, her father Ron and a family friend started CPR while her twin sister Teresa, younger sister Stephanie and fiance Sid Motu looked on.

Latoya slipped in and out of consciousness but passed away as emergency services staff tried to save her.

"There was a whole lot of stuff going on around us but my main focus was my girl," Ron said. "We worked on her until the ambulance got there ... she was fighting, but it became a little too much for her."

It is not known what caused the kindergarten worker to collapse.

"She had no major health problems," said Ron. "After she passed her doctor said he was absolutely shocked. As long as he'd known her she was a very fit, healthy young lady."

Latoya, who also has an older sister Deana, had been playing in the same touch team with Teresa and Stephanie for 10 years and had represented North Harbour Rugby and played in secondary school national tournaments. Her parents were also part of the team.

Ron said he was thankful to be at Latoya's last game.

"Sometimes I wouldn't make it to the game due to work. For me, not being there would have been much harder."

Sid, 25, said he was Latoya's number one fan. The couple had been together for about seven months but met years ago. They had been engaged for only 10 days after Sid proposed on Valentine's Day.

"We were supposed to go to the beach and I was going get a shell [to put the ring inside], but the weather was crap," he said. "She was just out of the shower and I looked up at her and asked if she loved me.

"She said 'of course, what's the matter', and I said 'will you marry me?'. She just starting crying."

Ron and Maria said Sid asked for their blessing: "He did it the old-fashioned way, like a true gentleman."

A parent of one of the children Latoya cared for offered her wedding dress to wear for the occasion. She tried the dress on to show her family before they left for touch rugby on the night she passed away.

The couple were planning to marry next January 15 when Deana, who lives in Australia, would be home. But instead of a wedding, Deana came home for her sister's funeral.

The service was held in Henderson last Saturday and was standing room only as hundreds of people paid their respects.

Close family and members of Latoya's touch team wore specially made remembrance T-shirts and performed an emotional haka as she was carried to the hearse.

Teresa said this week losing her younger twin had been hard: "We used to talk about everything."

Latoya's family said she was bubbly, full of laughter and lived her life to the fullest. She was well known around West Auckland, where she grew up and flatted with friends.

She attended Massey High School and played netball and rugby. "She was always a sporty child," said Ron and Maria. "She was really fitness-conscious, always out there running ... she had her finger in every pie."

Latoya worked as a caregiver for ACC clients and a postie before getting a job at Old MacDonald's Country Kindy in Henderson.

She planned to start studying towards her early childcare degree this year.

Colleagues Jamie Leaf and Chanel Ulberg said she was loved by all the children she looked after and their parents.

"She was awesome. It was pretty hard telling the parents," Leaf said.

Ulberg said she connected with the kids "really well".

"She was a natural, she was just like a mother."

Latoya's family are still coming to terms with her passing but said they had a lot of support. Ron and Maria want to thank everyone who went to the funeral and all who offered condolences.

"A lot of people came and said they didn't know what to say, but by being there they said it all."