Nick Hazlett with son Nash. Friends say he was an amazing dad. Photo / Facebook
Nick Hazlett with son Nash. Friends say he was an amazing dad. Photo / Facebook
The sports-mad dad and husband who died suddenly in Cambodia on Monday had all of his young son's life to look forward to, says a grief-stricken friend.
Nick Hazlett, 46, died in a Phnom Penh hotel on May 18, while visiting Cambodia on a boys' trip. His friends found himunresponsive when they tried to rouse him from a nap.
Cambodian police believe Hazlett died of a heart attack in his sleep. That's come as a huge shock, close friend Shane Binnie said.
"He was extremely young at heart, fit and healthy and worked out a lot. He looked after himself - he almost had the secret elixir," said NZ-based Binnie, who met Hazlett and his wife Justine while an expat in Singapore in 2011.
"Friends go away on sports trips and trips away together and you never expect one of those people are not going to return home."
Nick and Justine Hazlett with son Nash, now 6. Photo / Facebook
Justine had flown to Cambodia following her husband's death. Decisions were still being made about repatriating Hazlett's remains, and no funeral arrangements had been made yet, Binnie said.
Nick and wife Justine were "super, super generous people", he said.
"In a place like Singapore, your best friends become family because you don't have family around. We were in each others' back pockets, hanging out an awful lot," he said.
"It was an absolute delight to make such good friends that we knew quite quickly were going to be friends for a long time."
It had been a delight to watch Hazlett transition from a hard-working young professional and carefree traveller to a family man when he and Justine adopted a boy, Nash, in 2014.
"That was something both Justine and Nick had been looking forward to for many years.
"Nash is a huge delight to fulfil their lives and I know Nick and Justine had everything to look forward to in parenting - all those milestones along the way."
Nick and Justine Hazlett had become parents in 2014 and were planning to move back to New Zealand. Photo / Facebook
Hazlett was heavily involved in rugby and touch rugby and had developed a wide group of friends in the expat community. They were all devastated at the news and were rallying around Justine and Nash, now aged 6.
