Diver dies collecting Christmas kai
Gary Hibbs went diving to fill the Christmas table. His family got the worst news possible instead.
Hibbs, 58, died after being pulled unconscious from the water off Seatoun, Wellington on Christmas Eve – the day that also doubled as his first anniversary with his new partner.
It was she who left the bunch of pink and white flowers in the pebbly beach between Seatoun and Breaker Bay.
And it was she who called Hibbs’ son – also named Gary Hibbs – to deliver the bad news that his father was unconscious, then dead.
‘‘It’s the worst news you could expect to get at what is meant to be such a festive time,’’ his son said.
He described his father as a selfless man: ‘‘He was always there for anyone who needed him.’’
Hibbs was a painter and plasterer by trade and also a good chef. But he was also a semiprofessional snooker and eightball player, who worked the circuit around New Zealand.
On Monday, he was getting kaimoana for December 25, which he was to spend with his partner.
Hibbs’ Facebook posts from Monday just after midday join the dots before he got in the water at Seatoun.
There is the post sent while sitting in traffic in the central city: ‘‘On way for a fish and a dive.’’
Then shortly after a picture at 12.40pm as he went around Oriental Bay. It was 4.10pm when emergency services got the call that a free-diver had been pulled unconscious from the water near Seatoun. Gibbs died at the scene and his death has been referred to the coroner.
That last Facebook post soon
became an impromptu condolence wall as news came out. ‘‘He really was everybody’s baby,’’ one wrote. ‘‘No wonder he was so sociable and he just loved everyone.’’
His aunt, Marina Sciascia said Gary was a top chef and a passionate diver, who loved gathering his own kaimoana.
‘‘Gary was a brilliant bloke – he was a friend to everyone.’’
His son believed it was a medical event – not drowning – that took his father’s life but he was still awaiting an autopsy result.