Javarn Nofoagatotoa with his godson following the child's first birthday and Javarn's 21st. Photo / Supplied
Javarn Nofoagatotoa with his godson following the child's first birthday and Javarn's 21st. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay rugby league prospect Javarn Nofoagatotoa moved to Australia when he was 15 for a shot at the big time. Seven years later he was found dead, leaving his distraught family back home trying to piece together the big question - how did this happen? Sahiban Hyde reports.
OnNovember 2, 2019, Javarn Nofoagatotoa moved to Sydney.
On November 23, his body was found at a Sydney construction site.
The three weeks in between? Not even his mother Ollie Bartlett knows what happened to her "gentle, humble giant".
"Three weeks in Sydney and he's gone," she says through sobs.
Javarn Nofoagatotoa is remembered as a happy, smiley boy who always put others first. Photo / Supplied
She recalls the date and time of when they received the news of his death with crystal clarity.
"We had travelled to Morere (Hot) Springs," Hastings-based Bartlett says.
"On November 23 we came home and I was quite sick. I went to sleep."
Bartlett struggles to talk about the chain of events that followed.
"My partner walked up to the gate at 9.45pm to go to my daughter's house.
"There were cops on the other side of the gate and they asked him if he was the father of Javarn. He said yes, but he asked them to come into the house before saying anything."
Bartlett suspected it was bad news.
"You sort of have an idea. He woke me up and said police were here for Javarn.
"They told us that our son had an accident and sadly he had passed away.
"My husband broke down. We couldn't believe it."
They had the unenviable task of giving the news to Javarn's 19-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother.
"His little sister was so close to him and she was devastated. His little brother was asleep when police came, so we had to give him the news the next day when he woke up. He was also very devastated.
"I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
The circumstances of Javarn's death were not explained, and they were given the bare minimum of facts because his death is under investigation, she said.
"He was found at a construction site. He was working in scaffolding but it was not his construction site.
"We went to collect our son from the mortuary in Sydney and we didn't even meet the detective in charge of the investigation.
"We couldn't even get his personal property back until the investigation was done.
"The mortuary offered to cremate our son, but we said no way. He doesn't belong there," she said.
With help from a Givealittle page that raised funds for his return, Javarn's body was brought back to Hawke's Bay on December 4.
A tangi was held on December 7 for family and friends, including his Australian family, at Kahurānaki, Marae Waakainga - Heretaunga.
Javarn Nofoagatotoa is remembered as a gentle giant. Photo / Supplied
When Javarn moved to the Gold Coast in 2014 on a rugby league scholarship, his family stayed in Hawke's Bay.
He went with his cousin and three others who got rugby scholarships and attended Coombabah State High School.
Bartlett remembers surprising him in 2015 by flying over to see him because he had made it to the school state championships in rugby league in Mackay, Queensland.
When he graduated, his success continued, playing both club rugby league for Runaway Bay and rugby union for the Gold Coast Eagles.
A post on the Eagles Facebook page expresses the heartache of those who knew the him.
"He was one of a kind with the biggest heart for all, the greatest smile, the biggest hits on and off the field and always gave all of that heart to our club and his brothers," the post read.
He came back to New Zealand on occasion, Bartlett said. They were always happy memories. Even when they weren't together, he would call Bartlett every day.
"Me and him were so close," she says.
"He was a gentle, humble giant, he cared for everyone.
"He put everyone before himself. He had the biggest heart, and he was very caring."
A host family looked after him when he was in Australia, and Bartlett is extremely grateful for their care and devotion to Javarn.
"The Mohi family had 10 other kids, but they cared for him like he was their own son.
"They were his Australian parents."
The host family met Javarn's parents in Sydney and they were with them at the mortuary.
Bartlett misses the sound of the phone ringing now, the hugs Javarn used to give, the pranks he played.
Losing a child is not something a person gets over easily, she says. And it's only been six weeks.
"It's really hard to think he has gone. He was one in a million and he touched many lives.
