Tragic end to Christmas kai dive
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 her who left the bunch of pink and white flowers in the pebbly beach between Seatoun and Breaker Bay. And it was her 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 pool player who worked the circuit around New Zealand.
On Monday he was out getting kai moana for the Christmas table, and planned to spend Christmas Day with his partner in Wellington. The couple were celebrating their first anniversary on Monday, the day he died.
At the scene yesterday, police could be seen collecting a diving mask and knife that had been stored behind a sign. It was not clear if these belonged to Hibbs.
Hibbs’ Facebook post from Monday shortly after midday joined the dots before he got in the water at Seatoun. There is the post in traffic in the central city: ‘‘On way for a fish and a dive.’’ Then shortly afterwards, a picture at 12.40pm as he went around Oriental Bay.
It was 4.10pm when emergency services were told a free-diver had been pulled unconscious from the water near Seatoun. Hibbs died at the scene. His death has been referred to the coroner.
That Facebook post, posted while he was still alive, 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 Hibbs was a top chef and a passionate diver who loved gathering his own kai moana.
‘‘Gary was a brilliant bloke – he was a friend to everyone.’’
His son said he believed it was a medical event – not drowning – that took his father’s life, but he was still waiting on an autopsy yesterday.