Operation Flotation: Northland woman’s lifesaving effort after Cable Bay drowning

As Leigh Albert and her children prepare for another Christmas without her partner Wairongoa ‘Magoo’ Renata and as Kiwis flock to Northland beaches this summer, she takes solace in the fact that his death at a Far North bay has led to an initiative aiming to save lives nationwide.

January 2 in 2018 was supposed to be a day of celebration as 54-year-old Renata headed north with the couple’s three children and their cousins to celebrate their daughter’s 11th birthday.

Albert had stayed in Motatau, south of Moerewa, to be with whānau following her uncle’s death.

After homemade birthday cake at Cape Reinga, Renata and the kids stopped for a swim at Cable Bay Reserve.

“According to the photos, it looked like a beautiful day,” Albert said. “There wasn’t really anything to give them any warning that things were going to get rough.”

The couple’s 8-year-old twin boys were playing on a boogie board in the surf when a rogue wave hit and swept them out of the shallows.

Their sister heard their screams and rushed to rescue them.

“She starts to go under because she’s stuck now in this rip,” Albert said.

Amid the children’s screams were Renata’s yells for somebody to help.

Albert said he then jumped in to try and save his daughter, who kept disappearing under water.

“All four had to be pulled out.”

The couple’s daughter was resuscitated on the beach before being airlifted to Whangārei Hospital. Renata was given CPR but remained lifeless.

Albert said her other half was the kind of person who would do anything for anyone in need.

Wairongoa Clarence Renata, known as Magoo or Tickety Boo, drowned saving his 11-year-old daughter at Cable Bay.

“He would help whānau, neighbours, and complete strangers at the drop of a hat.

“That one incident changed my life,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to go through that.”

But every year people do. Water Safety NZ data showed so far this year, 86 drowning fatalities have occurred - six of which, however, were during Cyclone Gabrielle. Furthermore, everyone who died while attempting a bystander rescue between 2012 and 2022 did not carry any form of personal flotation device.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand said in the past decade there have been 424 fatal drownings along the country’s coastline and the nation’s 10-year average fatal drowning rate is 57 per cent greater than Australia’s.

Cable Bay local Pat Millar is taking action to turn that statistic on its head. She has spearheaded Operation Flotation, a charitable trust that provides and installs lifesaving flotation devices at beaches.

She first heard about the drowning at her local beach via the television and through a phone call learned it was her cousin.

“It just played on my mind and I kept on hearing the reports about don’t go into the water to help a drowning person unless you’ve got a flotation device, even if it’s an empty drink bottle.”

If that is the advice then why aren’t there devices at the beaches, she questioned.

A 2021 report on Renata’s death by Coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale criticised the Far North District Council’s “complacent approach” for not having flotation devices if people did get into trouble or signs at the beach warning of its dangers. The council responded by erecting warning signs at the beach.

Shortly after Renata died, Millar grabbed one of her husband’s fishing floats, wrote ‘for emergencies’ on it, and hung it in a tree until she could find a better solution.

In the coming months she was able to source proper rescue devices. They were originally funded by donations from kind-hearted friends and later thanks to help from the Doubtless Bay community and the Far North District Council.

Operation Flotation began with five devices installed at the three Doubtless Bay beaches but grew after people contacted Millar asking for a device at their local swim spot. Now there are 20 flotation devices, the most southern in Ōpito Bay in the Coromandel.

Pat Millar with the Operation Flotation device installed at Cable Bay. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Millar said a flotation device prompted by their trust had been used in Langs Beach to avoid a tragedy.

She always experienced a mixture of feelings when learning of the impact a device had made at a point in time.

“It’s great someone has been able to use it and that a life has been saved but I also feel sad that it wasn’t there for Magoo.”

Also upsetting for Millar is the number of times devices at Cable Bay, where Renata died, had been stolen.

Albert was grateful to the Cable Bay local for the “marvellous job” she has done for not only her family and others but also for Magoo’s memory.

“She’s making sure no one else has to go through the same trauma that we’ve had.”

In 2021, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand started a project to create standards for public rescue equipment and recognising Millar’s integral work, invited Operation Flotation to collaborate.

Karina Cooper is news director and covers breaking and general news for the Advocate. She has a special interest in getting to the heart of a story.