Snorkeller loses fight for life

A diver is taken to hospital believed to be suffering from the bends. Photo / Janna Dixon

A drowning man was dragged ashore by his daughter and girlfriend in a desperate bid to save his life at a popular family beach yesterday.

A little later in the afternoon, emergency services - including the same fire crew - were again called to the Goat Island Bay, near Warkworth, this time after a diver got into trouble.

The woman, in her 30s and understood to be suffering from decompression sickness, was taken by rescue helicopter to Auckland City Hospital.

But in the first emergency, a 57-year-old North Auckland man died on the shore in the arms of his girlfriend and daughter.

Westpac Rescue Helicopter paramedic Russell Clarke said the man was snorkelling with his partner when he got into difficulty at 12.30pm.

"He was found face down in the water by Goat Island. He was face down for an unknown period of time. His partner got him to Goat Island," he said.

The Herald on Sunday has learned the man's daughter was also swimming with the couple and was involved in the attempted rescue. Beachgoers tried to resuscitate the man.

"They were trying to keep him alive but by the time we got there he had been unresponsive for up to a half an hour. Everything was done for him but unfortunately he didn't survive," Clarke said.

Beach Hire Goat Island owner Scott Pennington said he was in his house overlooking the bay when he saw a group of people on Goat Island shouting for help.

He ran to the beach and saw a group of about 10 American students, who had been swimming nearby, performing CPR on the man.

"They had a full first aid and oxygen kit in their car. They kept him alive. The glass-bottomed boat brought them all back to the shore. They kept him alive until the Westpac helicopter arrived," he said.

Pennington said he had to help talk to the American students who were traumatised by the accident.

He said a snorkeller had nearly drowned in the bay two weeks ago. "There is a problem with education around water. We get people hiring all the gear to go snorkelling who can't even swim," he said. "They underestimate the depth, distance and different day, different current. They get tired, panic and drown."

The community was raising funds to buy oxygen tanks and defibrillators because too many people had accidents at the beach. And the beach should have a bell to ring in emergencies, he said.

The glass-bottomed boat owner Ian Blackwell said the man had been snorkelling with his wife and teenage daughter when he got into difficulty.

He saw the man's wife pulling the man on to Goat Island. He transported the American students to the island with their first aid gear, then brought them all back to shore to await the emergency services.

Blackwell said the people who had difficulty in the water were usually Aucklanders who overestimated their abilities.

Argentinian tourist Florence Moret said she heard a woman shouting for a phone to call 111.

She saw the students carry first aid equipment to the beach and get on the boat.

"I saw them doing CPR and they all came back in the boat and they put barriers up to stop people looking. Some tourists were filming and taking pictures - it wasn't very nice. The ambulance came but I think it was too late," she said.