Lifeguards struggle to recover dead body

Lifeguards park the boat containing a body at North Piha surf headquarters. Picture / Dean Purcell

Two lifeguards spent an hour recovering a badly decomposing body found wedged under a rock near Piha yesterday.

The body, which appeared naked apart from a pair of socks, was too decomposed to tell if it was that of a man or woman.

However, there is a strong possibility it could be an elderly man who was swept off the rocks at Anawhata Beach on November 19.

A St John spokesman said emergency services workers were alerted to the find yesterday afternoon after a 111 call from a person with limited English.

The caller said there was a body on Whites Beach, just north of Piha, but it was not clear if the person was injured or dead.

With that uncertainty and the remote location of the beach St John contacted the Westpac rescue helicopter, which was patrolling in the area, to see if they could help.

Westpac crew chief Joe Naera said it did not take long for the helicopter to spot the body on the rocks.

After getting close, it was established that the person was not alive and the rescue turned into a recovery operation.

An inflatable rescue boat was sent to Whites Beach but lifeguard Brendan Evans said surf conditions and rocks made getting to the body difficult.

After being guided by the helicopter, Mr Evans and lifeguard Jamie Piggins left the boat and made their way over the rocks to the body.

"We saw it lying half under the rock and in a fairly decomposed state. It was hard to tell the sex or age."

Recovering the body turned out to be even more difficult than finding it.

Wearing disposable gloves and using a body bag, they spent about 20 minutes trying to loosen it from the rocks it was wedged in.

"From there we had to basically carry the body over the rocks ... to where the boat was. That was pretty difficult because the body was heavy, there was water in the bag and the terrain was rough."

Mr Evans said the body was taken back to North Piha, where guards kept beachgoers back as the boat was driven up the beach and to the surf club.

While it was an unpleasant task, Mr Evans said recovering a decomposed body on Christmas Day was part of the job.

"It's an important job that we have to do because it's good for closure for the family."

It is the third body Mr Evans has recovered during his 11 years with surf lifesaving, although the others had not been decomposed.

Both he and Mr Piggins were last night offered counselling.

Inspector Scott Webb, from the Northern Communications Centre, said it was possible the body was that of a fisherman who was swept off rocks at Whatipu last week. But the decomposition indicated it was more likely that of the Anawhata fisherman.