Teen tried to resuscitate man
A 14-year-old girl tried to help a man before he died at the Manawatu¯ River.
Bailee Head and her cousin were cooling down at a swimming spot, near Maxwells Line in Palmerston North, when a man was seen struggling in the water on Wednesday afternoon.
After hearing cries for help from a woman nearby, Bailee ran over to see how she could help.
But attempts from several people to resuscitate him were in vain.
Police confirmed the death of a 24-year-old man who had been pulled from the water.
Emergency services attended the incident just after 2pm.
‘‘We just left our stuff there and ran over. I didn’t really know what to do,’’ Bailee said. ‘‘I didn’t want to be that person that sat around and just watched.’’
Bailee asked the cousin of the man what his name was, and she then tried to communicate with him and checked his pulse.
‘‘His cousin was in tears. He was in shock.’’
The woman who initially called for help then came over and tried to resuscitate the man with instructions from an ambulance worker on the phone, Bailee said.
The woman, who had said the man was drowning, gave him mouth-to-mouth, Bailee said.
‘‘She was probably the biggest help there.’’
Despite doing all she and others could, they weren’t able to save the man.
‘‘I just feel sorry for the family.’’ It happened so quickly, she said.
Bailee is now too scared to swim at the Manawatu¯ River and she wants other people to be more cautious.
‘‘I never thought that it was bad to go in there. It doesn’t look that far, but it’s deep.’’
Even if the river didn’t look that dangerous, people needed to be careful, Bailee said.
The current could be strong without swimmers realising, she said.
A police spokeswoman was unable to confirm if the man drowned. The death will be referred to the coroner.
The man is not the first to die in the Manawatu¯ River this year.
In February, a police search for missing man Christopher Neal near the Ballance Bridge found his body in the Manawatu¯ River.
In December last year, police prosecutor Mike Toon’s body was found in the Manawatu¯ River after he died saving his daughter and the family dog from the water.
Reports from a witness to the incident suggested Toon’s daughter went to the edge of the river after a dog jumped in and the bank gave way, causing her to slip into the water.
Toon was believed to have jumped in after her, and both were caught in the current. She was rescued and the dog was found safe.