Piha drownings: Widow of man who died at beach had earlier lost parents, brother to Covid

The grief-stricken wife of one of the men who died at Piha Beach on Saturday has been left utterly lost and bereft after earlier losing her family in India to Covid.

“She has no one to care for and no one to live for,” a friend of the two dead men, Hiren Patel, told the Herald.

The pair who lost their lives at the Auckland west coast beach had chosen one of the most dangerous spots to enter the water and family say they did not know how to swim.

Indian High Commission second secretary Durga Dass confirmed the two men were Saurin Nayankumar Patel and Anshul Shah, who both hailed from Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Patel, 28, was an electrical engineer who arrived in New Zealand in August, while Shah, 31, worked as a cashier at a fuel station and arrived here in November.

“It is a massive tragedy for the Indian community, the loss of these two men, and our thoughts go out to their families,” Dass said.

The Indian High Commission in Wellington was in touch with the two victims’ families.

The pair were roommates in Auckland and both held work visas.

Shah’s wife was at Piha when the incident occurred, Dass said.

Hiren told the Herald he was “totally devastated” about the loss of his friends.

“I’m holding all of their memories, I feel like Saurin and Anshul are still right next to me.”

Hiren said another friend, Apurv Modi, was also in the water when a “rogue wave” pulled the trio apart.

Modi reached for Patel’s hand but couldn’t hold on as he “screamed and shouted” for help, Hiren said.

“It is with God’s grace that Apurv Modi survived. He managed to come to shore but he lost his friends,” Hiren said.

Hiren said he had contacted both men’s families in India and they were finding it difficult to accept the loss.

“They’re all shocked. Saurin’s family, I spoke to them, and they don’t believe that Saurin is not with them. They are waiting for his body to come so they know.

“Every second goes by, it will take about five days before their bodies return, just imagine a parent waiting to see their child knowing they are no more.”

Hiren said he has been consoling Shah’s wife, who has already suffered the loss of both her parents and her brother to Covid-19.

“We are all there [for] her, but everything you say is just hard to believe, you know, you say ‘calm down and look forward to the future’, but how can she when the only person who cared for her is gone.”

Hiren said Shah had just returned from India after being caught by border closures over the last two years.

Shah’s brother was in shock, Hiren said. His parents were “quite aged” and his brother was reluctant to tell them of their son’s death.

“[Patel’s] dad is quite mentally strong. He’s holding everything together,” Hiren said.

“They heard the news over the phone. They didn’t see him lying on the beach or in bed. They are showing that they are strong.”

Hiern said family and friends were concerned about the cost of transporting the two men back to India and said they were considering fundraising for support.

United North Piha Surf Lifesaving Club president Robert Ferguson is praising the efforts of lifeguards, first responders and bystanders who did everything possible to save the pair, who had only spent 30 minutes at the beach before tragedy struck.

He said everyone was shaken by the events, with it ending in the worst possible way. The pair were pulled unconscious from the sea on Auckland’s west coast on Saturday evening. Both were unable to be revived.

“No one slept very well last night,” said Ferguson, who was one of the 50-plus people responding to the unfolding emergency.

He admitted it was just starting to hit him now.

“It was like an operating theatre on the beach ... I’m massively proud of our guys,” Ferguson said.

“We save hundreds of people every year from drowning and we prevent thousands from swimming in silly places. To lose a couple like that is heart-wrenching.”

Swimmers at Piha Beach under the watchful eye of lifeguards, a day after two people died in an unpatrolled section of the beach. Photo / Alex Burton

He said the lifesaving club’s volunteer patrol was closing down for the day when a lifeguard in the tower spotted two people in the water near the river mouth around 200m from Lion Rock.

The patrol captain called for preventative action, with two lifeguards sent to tell the pair they were swimming in a dangerous spot and that guards were going off patrol for the day and to be careful.

“Halfway down he could see that it had gone from a preventative action to a rescue.”

Ferguson said after issuing a rescue call a boat was launched.

“By the time the lifeguards had got to the position where the swimmers had gone in and put their tubes and fins on and swam out, they were gone.”

He said the pair were described by family at the beach as “non-swimmers”.

And he regarded the spot where the pair chose to swim as one of the most dangerous on the beach.

“They chose a spot on the beach where it was flat and it’s flat because it’s deep.

“They would have walked in and it might have been waist-deep and two more steps it would have been over their heads.

“We think that’s what happened.

Emergency services were called to Piha Beach just after 6pm on Saturday when two people got into trouble in the water. Photo / Hayden Woodward

“The rescue boat started the search and then quite quickly found the first victim face down in the water, so they pulled him in the boat.

“They drove it back to the beach for assistance and started resuscitation.”

He said family approached them and asked about the whereabouts of a second person.

At this point Ferguson and eight others who were nearby were called in to help with the search effort.

There were now five rescue craft in the water but it was thanks to the police helicopter that the second victim was spotted from the air.

“The police helicopter landed very quickly right next to us and the crew jumped out and ran fully-kitted with helmet, boots, into the water’s edge and just over knee-depth water grabbed hold of the second patient.”

Resuscitation efforts started on that person but it was too late.

Ferguson said it was an enormous response with off-duty lifeguards from the Piha Surf Life Saving Club, St John first responders, police, paramedics and locals with expert health skills.

“I am hugely proud of my team and what they did.”

He said it deeply affected everyone involved. There were more than 52 people at the debrief after the incident.

“If that group of people couldn’t have brought those guys back I think nothing could have.”

From car park to the sea

Ferguson said he believed the victims had pulled up to a Piha carpark and entered the water close to their vehicle - a spot the long-time surf lifesaver would never think of going for a swim.

“They had only been there half an hour. They’d driven down to the beach, walked over the sandhills and straight into the water.

“My understanding is they were described by the family as ‘non-swimmers’.”

“This is my 50th season out here and there are places on the beach I don’t swim because it’s too dangerous.

“Where they went in I wouldn’t have gone in.”

Flowers at the United North Piha Surf Lifesaving Club tower after two people lost their lives. Photo / Alex Burton

Just hours after the tragedy there had been an outpouring of support from the close-knit beach community, showing their gratitude in floral tributes.

“We’ve got massive support from our community,” Ferguson said.

“The thing that was extremely difficult this morning was that someone had left flowers on the base of our tower. It’s extremely sad.”

The surf club posted their condolences, extending aroha to the family and friends who lost loved ones at the beach.

Sadly Ferguson said Saturday’s tragedy could have been averted if the pair had basic swimming skills.

“If they would have floated we would have rescued them right there.”

He reminded anyone swimming at beaches this summer that they needed to swim between the flags.

“If there are no flags don’t swim.”

Horror weekend as drowning toll rises to six

Yesterday afternoon the drowning toll rose to six when a person died following a water-related emergency at Tāwharanui Regional Park.

Beachgoers performed CPR on a man for 30 minutes until paramedics arrived at Anchor Bay.

Police confirmed someone died at the beach shortly before 2pm.

Three earlier deaths occurred between late Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in Auckland, including a person who police described as dying in a “water incident” at a Takapuna address on Saturday.

The evening before, a man and woman died after they were pulled unconscious from the water by bystanders within half an hour of each other at Auckland northern suburbs beaches Narrow Neck and Big Manly, on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

The alarm was raised at Narrow Neck Beach about 4.30pm when someone pointed to an “upside-down” woman about 10m away from him in the water and asked, ‘Is she all right?’, one rescuer told the Herald.

He turned her over and pulled her to shore, where an off-duty lifeguard and about 15 others tried to help the unresponsive woman before an ambulance arrived.

”Half an hour later, bystanders also pulled an unresponsive man from the water at Big Manly Beach,” Manly resident Johnny Lind said.

”He was swimming and we saw, out of our window, his buttocks sticking up.

“We thought he may have been snorkelling, as a lot of people do that here.”

Police later confirmed the man had died.