Surfers prevented further loss of life in family tragedy
The quick action of four surfers, who happened to be medical professionals, helped prevent more lives being lost in a family boating tragedy.
A 2-year-old girl was trapped under water when her family’s boat flipped trying to cross a sandbar at Taieri Mouth, south of Dunedin, on April 3, 2021.
The girl, who has permanent name suppression, later died in Dunedin Hospital. CPR had begun as she lay on a surfboard after being rescued from under the upturned boat.
That rescue of the family of five was initiated by four surfers, who spotted the overturned boat and heads bobbing in the water.
Running down to the beach with their surfboards, three of the surfers were fully qualified doctors, and the other a trainee doctor.
“I note, these four surfers are to be commended for their bravery and rescue skills,” Coroner Ruth Thomas said in her newly released findings. “Their actions saved lives.”
The father of the girl bought the 5.2m boat earlier that same year, and while he previously held a skipper’s licence, he did not have much boating experience in the Dunedin area, where his family lived.
All five members of the family had lifejackets on, as the man launched the boat just before 1pm. The family travelled toward the sandbar at a slow speed, as the father was looking for the channel through the bar, but couldn’t find the gap.
The father turned the boat to face the waves directly but then a larger wave struck, and capsized the boat. His wife and son landed away from the boat, but his two daughters were trapped underneath, or partially underneath, the upturned vessel.
The father took his lifejacket off to dive under the boat and take the toddler’s lifejacket off so he could help her make an escape with him. However, he lost consciousness and was pulled from under the boat after his wife saw his legs floating from underneath.
One surfer, Evie Hall, located the boy a few hundred metres from the upturned boat, and helped him swim back to the shore. Surfers Michaela Jones and William Allen paddled to the capsized boat and saw the two adults and one of the couple’s girls. The girl’s head was knocking against the boat and she was covered with water, so Allen untangled her lifejacket and pulled her free, placing her on the board. Jones started mouth-tomouth resuscitation.
The girl’s parents were put on a surfboard each, and were told to kick hard so they could to reach the shore.
Surfer James Welchman realised there was one person missing, and swum to the boat and dived under it. Numerous times he failed to find anyone, but when diving deep into the bow of the upturned board he felt a small foot. He pulled hard and brought the toddler to the surface.
Welchman and Hall placed the girl on a surfboard, and started mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions as they headed towards the shore, where they were assisted by a jetski.
She was taken by the rescue helicopter, with Allen, an intensive care registrar, ventilating her on the 30km flight to Dunedin Hospital.
Coroner Thomas noted that the young girl, who had been submerged for more than 15 minutes, presented on arrival at the hospital with cardiopulmonary arrest.
She was declared dead at 3.50pm. Her parents were at her bedside when she died, while her brother and sister had been transported to hospital by ambulance.
In upholding the family’s wishes, Coroner Thomas agreed to release her body with no autopsy.
Maritime NZ engaged a technical expert to inspect the boat.
The coroner accepted the expert’s finding that the boat was fit for purpose prior to the capsize. It was also accepted that crossing river or harbour bars in New Zealand could be dangerous, with Taieri Mouth having a history of vessel capsizes. That was because the sand moves the channel and skippers needed to reassess the best route to take every time.
Coroner Thomas urged boat users to watch camera footage online on the Otago Regional Council website, which showed the location of the channel.
The father said he had not seen or read the warning signs erected at the Taieri boat ramp that warn skippers to avoid low water and an ebb tide, which was what was unfolding that day, when crossing the bar.
The coroner recommended the regional council improve the prominence and the visual impact of the bar crossing warning signs at Taieri mouth and Henley boat ramps.