Man dead after hot pool accident

By KELLY BLANCHARD in Rotorua
Rotorua man Tane Ruhi should have been celebrating his 43rd birthday this week.

Instead, his family farewelled him at a tangi after he died on his birthday after falling into a scalding hot thermal bath.

The "awesome Dad" had been placed in an induced coma at Waikato Hospital after receiving severe burns early on Sunday morning.

He died in Waikato Hospital on his 43rd birthday on Monday. His family told the Daily Post that Mr Ruhi had been a happy man on Saturday, hours before the fatal accident.

He had just won some money and decided to shout his friends with an early birthday celebration at a house in Ohinemutu.

A thermal bath in an outside bathhouse, which was about 2m by 2m, had been left at a scalding temperature to cool down.

It wasn't thought anyone would be going near the bath.

But after a few drinks, Mr Ruhi went to the bathhouse and accidentally fell into it, badly burning his body.

Mr Ruhi was the father of three children: Hemi, 23, Trevor, 17, and Waimania, 12.

Hemi, who lives in Hamilton, got a call around 6am on Sunday from his grandmother with the bad news.

He said it was "heartbreaking" seeing his Dad with such painful burns.

"He was an awesome Dad. He would do anything he could for anyone.

"I'm going to miss someone to talk to. He was more like a good friend than a Dad. I could talk to him about anything."

Waimania now wears a locket around her neck with her father's photo inside.

She insisted the locket be engraved with the words "number one Dad".

Mr Ruhi was a plumber and sheet metal worker for Bill Rawlinson Plumbing and Gas for 21 years before leaving the job last year.

He was going to try something new but got caught up helping other people, Hemi said.

"That's just the way Dad was. He was always out the back helping everyone else out."

Hemi described what happened to his father as a "tragic and freak" accident.

"It couldn't have been prevented.

"It's hard for anyone to say anything bad about him - that's an easy way to sum someone up. There are a lot of people who are going to miss him in the community."

A stalwart of the Rotorua City Tigers rugby league club and former winger for the club, Mr Ruhi lived with his mother, Mei Ruhi, in Rotorua.

His father, Renata Ruhi, died just over two years ago.

Waimania's mother, Lori Paul, said her former partner was a beautiful person.

"He touched the lives of so many people in so many ways."

Mr Ruhi's tangi was held at Kearoa Marae at Horohoro this week.

He was buried at the neighbouring family cemetery yesterday.