More families decide to bring their loved ones home
More than 560 bodies belonging to Kiwi citizens were repatriated last year – the highest it had been in five years.
Figures from the New Zealand Customs Service, show the number stood at 565 for 2017, up from 519 in 2016 and 455 bodies in 2015.
This past week, just over $25,000 were raised on a Givealittle page to return the body of a promising young rugby league player to New Zealand after his death in Australia a week ago.
Tory Brunning, 22, died of unknown causes after a match in Illawarra, New South Wales, on Saturday, May 12. Days later, his grandmother Kay Brunning, who raised him, jumped on a plane to Australia – determined to bring his body home.
Kelley Coyne, of Taranaki, went through the process after her brother Tony died in Australia after a logging accident two months ago.
The 43-year-old’s life support was turned off on March 18, three days after the accident in rural Queensland.
‘‘Even Dad said ‘it doesn’t matter what it costs, he’s got to go back’,’’ Coyne said. ‘‘And that’s all there was to it. It’s where we’re from; it’s where he came from.’’
An overseas death has to be registered, the body has to be embalmed and placed in a casket or cremated, and this must be paid for before repatriation.
The deceased is sent as cargo, priced on weight, and goes through customs on arrival.
The cost and time depend on individual circumstances.
The Coynes spent more than $10,000. And because Tony’s death was an accident, and had to go through the police, his body was ready to be flown back five days after his death. ‘‘Originally they said it could be anything between four days and two weeks; it could even be up to four weeks.’’
The body arrived in New Zealand on March 23 and his family took it home the following day.
‘‘My partner got a van and trailer for our luggage, and we brought Tony back,’’ Coyne said. ‘‘We did what we call a hı¯koi all the way back here.’’
A week after Tony died, he was on his marae in Okato, coastal Taranaki, and buried on March 26.
Managing director of Eagars Funerals in Taranaki, Casey Martin, said the decision to bring a family member home is an individual choice she can’t explain.
‘‘I think depending on the circumstances, and where the person has died, those sorts of things are really big contributing factors as to whether they bring somebody home or not,’’ Martin said.
‘‘Certainly for our Ma¯ ori community, it’s definitely about bringing them back to the wha¯ nau and laying them to rest in their own burial ground.’’
But it’s not just Ma¯ori. ‘‘For some families, we definitely hear ‘it just seemed wrong to leave them’.’’