Kalia Saia, 10, jumped into action when she saw a toddler lying at the bottom of Baywave's busy wave pool.
“She was seconds away. She was grey as concrete.”
This is how Kayla Saia described the 3-year-old girl her daughter rescued from the bottom of a Mount Maunganui pool.
Kalia Saia, 10, has been called a “hero” after her quick-thinking rescue in New Zealand’s biggest wave pool at Baywave last Monday.
Mum Kayla Saia said the pool was teeming with people, given it was the school holidays. The wave machine was turned on.
Kalia was playing with her friend in the waves when she saw the toddler lying motionless at the bottom of the pool.
Kalia said she thought the girl was trying to see how long she could hold her breath underwater.
“But no bubbles were coming up.”
Kalia quickly jumped into action, surfacing for a big breath before diving down to get the girl.
The child was at the bottom of the deep end on a black strip, making her difficult to see, Saia said.
The Baywave wave pool has a depth of up to 1.8 metres.
Kalia pulled the child to the surface before passing her to her friend so she could use her arms to signal to the lifeguards.
Saia passed the child on to the lifeguards, who immediately began first aid and CPR.
She held towels around the toddler to provide privacy and keep other children from seeing what was going on, fearing the worst.
“She was unconscious, she had bile coming out of her mouth,” Saia said.
Lifeguards managed to get the child breathing, but she was still unconscious.
Saia said it was probably only 10 to 15 minutes before the ambulance arrived, but it felt like an eternity.
An ambulance was called at about 2.10pm and took the child to Tauranga Hospital in critical condition, Hato Hone St John said.
Learning later that the child had cried in the ambulance gave Saia a lot of relief.
She declined to comment on questions about the toddler’s caregiver, given the incident was under investigation.
As a mother of five, including a 3-year-old, Saia said the event was traumatising and it kept replaying in her mind.
She understood the toddler was released from the hospital on Wednesday, “happy and healthy”, which she described as a miracle.
Baywave staff had stayed in touch with the Saia family, who live in Welcome Bay, to discuss the incident and offer support.
Saia said the lifeguards were amazed by Kalia’s jump into action.
The Year 5 student at Tauranga Waldorf School did not have any lifeguarding experience.
Kalia’s parents told SunLive they were very proud of their daughter and said she was being called an “earth angel” and a “hero” by family and friends in the community.
They said Kalia is the middle child, and had always acted like a little mum, taking care of her siblings and preparing their school lunches.
She enjoys knitting, playing the violin and reading, and wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up.
Bay Venues general manager of community facilities, Paul Dunphy, said the Baywave team wanted to acknowledge everyone who helped with the rescue.
Dunphy said Kalia and her family were close by in the pool and helped get the child to lifeguards quickly.
“Their quick thinking and selfless actions are deeply appreciated and truly admirable.
“We hope Kalia’s heroic actions and initiative inspire others to look out for one another in and around the water.”
Dunphy also credited Baywave’s lifeguards for their professionalism and dedication in administering first aid and CPR, resuscitating the child.
“The child has fully recovered and is now home with their family. This positive outcome is the result of the collective efforts of everyone involved.”
Bay Venues was conducting a thorough review of the incident and had contacted WorkSafe and Recreation Aotearoa as part of standard procedures for this.
Dunphy previously confirmed Baywave was fully staffed with lifeguards at the time of the incident.
Six lifeguards were on duty, including three stationed at the wave pool.
“We operate at a ratio of one lifeguard for every 50 people in the water, which meets the current industry guideline when it comes to lifeguard staffing levels.”
Baywave’s child supervision policy required one supervisor aged 16+ for every two children aged under 5 and they must stay in the pool within arm’s reach.
WorkSafe confirmed it had been notified of the incident and was making enquiries to determine the next steps.
WorkSafe said that at this stage, it was not investigating.
Asked why the ambulance took an estimated 10-15 minutes when the St John depot in Mount Maunganui is 300m from Baywave, a St John spokeswoman said ambulance crews are “continually on the move”, and not always parked at the depot when a new emergency call arises.
She could not give the specific response time without paitent permission.
Ayla Yeoman is a multimedia journalist based in Tauranga. She grew up in Taupō and studied at the University of Auckland, where she developed a love for writing and journalism. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Communications and Politics & International Relations and has been a journalist since 2022.