‘Daddy’s got u’: Vow after boat tragedy
Daughter turns 6, just days after young mum’s death
The partner of Danielle Tamarua has paid an emotional tribute to their daughter who yesterday spent her “first birthday without mummy” after the young chef died in a charter boat accident on Waitemata¯ Harbour.
Junior Toparea took to Facebook to acknowledge his daughter Merigold’s sixth birthday just two days after her 25-year-old mother died off Auckland’s Rangitoto Island.
“Happy 6th birthday to my daughter Merigold Ora Tangianau love you my babe,” Toparea wrote.
“Daddy got u from now on, u and ur brother, u are my main babe in my life now to help me out. It’s sad this will be ur first birthday without mummy and it hurts, just know mummy is looking down over us.”
A family member confirmed to the Herald on Sunday yesterday Tamarua’s body had not yet been returned to family in Papatoetoe where her mother, brother and sister are mourning.
Tamarua was a mother of two and worked as a chef at catering company LittleWolf where staff are “deeply distressed” and “sad beyond words” at her death.
The accident occurred at 5.15pm on Thursday after Tamarua fell overboard from a Zefiro Charters boat, which had about 30 of her catering colleagues on board.
Police said an investigation involving Maritime NZ was under way into the events leading up to Tamarua’s death. The boat’s “shocked and devastated” owners have begun their own investigation.
Police confirmed another guest on the boat entered the water to help Tamarua, but was unsuccessful. Police clarified they were not injured.
A witness on a nearby Fullers360 ferry said a further two men jumped in the water in a desperate attempt to retrieve Tamarua. They were able to get her back to the charter vessel where those on board struggled to pull her unresponsive body aboard.
As the death has been referred to the coroner, neither police nor St John paramedics who responded to the incident could comment on the events and treatment administered to Tamarua.
LittleWolf Catering general manager Marcel Leydesdorff said Tamarua was “a beautiful, kind and much loved member of our team”.
“We are sad beyond words and extend our deepest condolences to Danielle’s family and friends,” Leydesdorff said.
“We express our gratitude to all first responders including the paramedic and trained first aiders on board at the time of the incident, the crews of the ferries who responded to the emergency calls, the police and Westpac Rescue Helicopter.”
Zefiro Charters’ owners Lawrence Knight and Ben Mostert said on Friday: “We are shocked and devastated with the events that unfolded yesterday afternoon. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the deceased.
“We are working with police and Maritime New Zealand who have our full co-operation, and will be conducting our own independent investigation to determine what happened.”
[Tamarua was] a beautiful, kind and much loved member of our team. Marcel Leydesdorff