Kiwis urged to be safe in water after deadly year
Preventable drownings in Auckland last year doubled the total for 2016
Aman who tried in vain to save a young boy who fell from an Auckland wharf has joined water safety advocates in pleading for vigilance this summer. The death of Haoran Chen, 5, in November came in a year in which twice as many Aucklanders died in preventable drownings as the year before.
But the spike, revealed in new Water Safety NZ figures, was echoed elsewhere and has been partly put down to warmer weather.
There was also a spike in the preventable drownings of Kiwis over 65 — and those 5 and under.
Bernard Riedl of Bayswater almost drowned while trying to rescue Haoran, who fell into choppy waters at Torpedo Bay wharf, near Devonport.
Riedl swam to Haoran and got him to wrap his arms around his rescuer’s neck but the little boy lost his grip.
Riedl then got into trouble himself and thought he would die. “You’ve just got to be aware of the dangers,” he said.
“I didn’t appreciate it before it happened to me, but that’s the thing — one minute you are safe by the sea with your family, and next minute someone you love is drowning, or you are drowning yourself.”
Water Safety NZ statistics showed Auckland’s preventable drownings jumped to 22 in 2017.
Before that, the rate had been static for four years.
New Zealand drownings overall rose to 88 last year, a 13 per cent increase.
This year, a week after former soldier Wairongoa Clarence Renata died at Northland’s Cable Bay after going into the water to save five children caught in a rip, Amy Jenny Brown, 35, of Taupo, drowned on January 9 while trying to save a child at Haumoana Beach in Hawke’s Bay.
Water Safety NZ chief executive Jonty Mills said 2017’s rise in deaths could have been partly due to hotter temperatures in the last part of the year.
“There is an obvious connection between drownings and the weather. We’ve seen a spike from October related to the early onset of summer.”
But the drowning problem was a complex one, he said.
“We have a very diverse and growing population with very high participation rates across a wide range of different activities and aquatic environments.”
In Canterbury, nine people drowned compared with one in 2016, with rises also recorded in Wellington (eight to one), Bay of Plenty (12 to seven) and the West Coast (six to three) — the region that also had the highest rate per 100,000 population.
Marlborough, where three people drowned last year, had the second highest such rate, ahead of Gisborne, Southland, Bay of Plenty and Northland, with rates at around four per 100,000 of population.
Of those who died in preventable drownings, seven were toddlers — four more died than in 2016 — while the number of people aged over 65 also doubled, from eight to 16.
“For under-5s the only solution is constant active adult supervision,” Mills said. “Also, we are living longer, healthier lives and retirees are more active, so there is extra risk.”
Most victims were Pakeha (48), with 15 Maori, 11 Asian people and six Pacific Islanders.
There was also a sizeable rise increase in female deaths, up from 11 in 2016 to 19 last year.
Seven drownings occurred in baths, eight in home pools and three in ponds, while two occurred at public pools.
Eleven people drowned far off coasts — nearly twice as many as in 2016 — while nine died in lakes ( none in 2016).
But river drownings nearly halved — 13 in 2017 compared with 23 in 2016 — and the number of beach fatalities fell from 21 in 2016 to 14 last year.
There were fewer cases of people drowning while swimming or on large boats, and no deaths after dives or jumps, but more involving free diving, angling, scuba diving, shell-fishing, snorkelling, small boats and “accidental immersions”.
“These are people who ended up in the water when they had no intention to,” Mills said.
But he said the longer-term pattern appeared more positive.
Five-year rolling averages indicate a “plateauing” of preventable drownings against a rising population, high tourism and immigration and growth in recreational activity,
Mills said New Zealand had some of the world’s most magnificent beaches, rivers and lakes, and being around water was part of the “quintessential Kiwi lifestyle”.
“The tragedy is that most drownings and injuries are preventable,” Mills said.
“We need all Kiwis to take responsibility and . . . remember the water safety code. Be prepared, watch out for yourself and each other, be aware of the dangers and know your limits.”