Mum drags girl from surf
Battle to bring daughter to shore after near-drowning an ‘absolutely petrifying’ ordeal
Amother last night described the petrifying moment her daughter nearly drowned at a Hawke’s Bay beach. Anita Gaylard told how she charged into the surf at Waimarama Beach when her 10-year-old daughter Nastacia got into trouble.
Gaylard saw her eldest daughter Klaudia, 13, yelling to Nastacia to get out as she sensed the surf getting louder.
“I have a loud whistle I do if the kids have gone out too far, I tried that, yelling and waving but it was at that point I knew she could hear and see me but she couldn't respond.”
Gaylard ran to help her daughter but struggled as it got deeper.
“I got out further and this wave nearly six-foot tall just pulled over top of me, rolled me around in the surf to the point where I took in water,” Gaylard said.
As she was toppling over she thought to herself that her “little girl might be gone”.
At a moment between the waves, she leapt out and grabbed her daughter by the wrist.
“A wave hit us and I just held on as tight as I could — she’s actually got marks from where I held her so tight,” Gaylard said.
Making their way back on to shore, lifeguards checked the pair to see if they were both okay and explained what to do if it should happen again.
Gaylard said everyone was a bit shocked after the ordeal but thankful to be alive.
“It's a pretty traumatic thing to happen. As a parent it was absolutely petrifying,” she said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon, just hours before Amy Jenny Brown, 35, drowned after going to the aid of children at Haumoana Beach, 30 minutes from Waimarama.
Police said Brown’s body was recovered early yesterday.
Brown went missing at the Tukituki River’s mouth on Tuesday evening after she went in to help two girls at the lagoon.
Both girls were treated at Hawke’s Bay Hospital, and discharged on Tuesday night.
A family spokesperson said yesterday that their “loss is overwhelming”.
“We are however a strong family and with the support of so many, we will get through.”
The spokesperson said the family were grateful to two women who helped the girls — a 5-year-old, believed to be Brown’s daughter, and her 8-year-old stepdaughter.
At Haumoana beach, flowers were left near the site and a rahui placed over the area.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand Hawke’s Bay callout squad coordinator Phil Harman said the area was “known to be quite dangerous”.