Drowned teen had big heart
Grieving mum believes warning signs need work, Jonathan Guildford reports.
SUE Sutton had a feeling something bad had happened to her 14-yearold son Jack when police knocked on her door.
‘‘I could just tell from their faces something serious had happened,’’ she said.
Her son had gone missing while swimming with a friend off Sumner Beach on February 5 last year.
After an extensive week-long search, Jack’s body was found washed up on the Scarborough foreshore.
Sutton said her son, who told her every day that he loved her, was a cheeky boy, who liked a joke and had a great sense of humour.
‘‘He was very protective of his family and his close friends. He had a big heart.’’
Jack loved training for boxing and scootering with friends and enjoyed making art.
Just before the incident, he had been struggling with the breakdown of his parents’ relationship, but things started to look up when he took up boxing training, Sutton said.
Following the recent drowning of 16-year-old Episami Pasiaka at Piha beach and a close call at Sumner Beach on January 9, Sutton decided it was time she told Jack’s story and promoted water safety in the hope others would be more cautious at the beach.
She wanted more signage at New Zealand beaches, warning of potential hazards such as rips.
But she hoped officials could go further and come up with something to inform others like Jack, who struggled to read and write.
She hoped schools would provide more swimming training and lessons on beach safety.
‘‘I think they need to put a bit more thought into engaging children,’’ Sutton said.
Rip hazard signs, developed with the Sumner community and the Surf Life Saving Club, were installed on a trial basis this summer at four points on the foreshore where rips most commonly developed.
According to Water Safety
NZ, rips have claimed 51 people lives in the past 10 years.
Every year, nearly 700 people caught in rip currents have to be rescued.
Water Safety NZ chief executive Jonty Mills said anyone visiting an unfamiliar beach needed to be aware of warning signs and gather local knowledge about dangers.
He said it was important to learn to identify a rip current and what to do if caught in one.
‘‘Look for calm patches in surf with waves breaking each side, rippled or criss-crossed water, discoloured water, foamy water and sand bars with these features between them.
‘‘If you identify a rip current, stay out of the water and always keep small children within arm’s reach at all times at the beach. Constant active adult supervision is the only way to keep them safe.’’
Mills said those attempting to rescue someone caught in a rip should take a flotation device with them and know their limits.
‘‘Too often it’s the rescuer who ends up drowning.’’
Panicking and trying to swim against a rip was why people drowned, he said.
‘‘You need to relax, float on your back and let the rip sweep you along until the current weakens.
‘‘Raise your hand to signal that you need assistance. When the current has subsided, swim parallel to the shore for 30 to 40 metres before returning to shore, swimming slowly.’’