Opinion: Time to listen to coroner's messages

Flowers at the Otaramarae Rd jetty at Lake Rotoiti for missing boatie Colin McCormick, who drowned on Lake Rotoiti. Photo/File

What's a Kiwi summer without the water? As soon as the sun comes out we flock to the nearest beach, lake or river to swim, boat, fish, ski, paddle or simply lie beside it.

For many of us, some of our happiest memories involve long hazy days at the beach or lake.

But in the blink of an eye, the making of a happy memory can turn tragic.

We heard this in sobering detail at two inquests before Coroner Wallace Bain this week.

Two men drowned in separate incidents, about a month apart, on Lake Rotoiti.

One was waterskiing, one had jumped off a boat to retrieve a hat. Both were strong swimmers, used to being in the water.

The common theme out of the inquests was that had they been wearing lifejackets, they may be alive to spend this Christmas with their families.

As well as establishing the circumstances of a death, one of the key roles of coronial inquests is to look at how similar deaths could be prevented in the future.

Coroner Bain wanted the media present at this week's inquests to get the message out about water safety, as he is all too aware we are heading into the summer season where people will be out in droves on boats, kayaks, paddleboards and swimming.

So please, take heed. You might not think you need a lifejacket, but surely it's better to be safe than sorry?

Coroner Bain was also in the news earlier in the week when his findings into the death of 3-year-old Moko Rangitoheriri were released.

His recommendation for compulsory monitoring of children, by midwives or Plunket, up until the age of 5, was the same recommendation he made after the inquest of Nia Glassie, who also died at the hands of her carers in 2007. That never happened.

You can only imagine his frustration when he says had that recommendation been in place Nia and Moko would probably still be alive today.

Will those recommendations finally be implemented? Or will we be back here again in a few years with another dead child? I know which outcome I prefer.