Man dies saving girls
When Angelo Tuyay heard two young girls screaming from the sea, he rushed into the water to save them.
He managed to push the girls towards the shore before others hauled them out, unharmed.
But when they looked back, Angelo was underwater.
The grandfather, in his 50s, died on the sands of Hot Water Beach on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
His death has spurred calls for the Government to fund a full time lifeguard service at Hot Water Beach, rather than rely on volunteers.
Locals worry that the growing crowds will lead to more trouble at a beach already known for drownings.
The Government and ThamesCoromandel District Council should be funding lifeguards full time there, Hot Water Beach lifeguard service chairman Gary Hinds said.
Authorities didn’t seem to understand how dire the problem was, he said.
‘‘It scares me that we have to wait until somebody drowns,’’ Hinds said. ‘‘With a lot of the young [lifeguards], this is not their first drowning and it probably won’t be their last.’’
And it’s often the brave rescuers – not those initially struggling – who end up drowning, Hinds said.
The two girls Angelo had saved – the daughters of good friends – were practically family, his wife Charina Tuyay said.
‘‘All I know, is my husband loves his family more than anything,’’ she said. ‘‘We all saw that the two girls were in trouble. It was just natural. It was typical – that’s typical of Angelo. He always wants to help.’’
Angelo would have been too worried about the girls to consider his own safety, Charina said.
He left behind three children and a grandchild.
Charina wanted to thank the lifeguards and kind strangers who helped and comforted the family while others performed CPR.
Lifeguards and holidaying doctors had tried to resuscitate him for 50 minutes before he was pronounced dead.
‘‘I was told that they tried the best that they could,’’ she said, tearfully. ‘‘We weren’t able to thank them all at [the time].
‘‘We are trying to be strong. It’s hard.’’
Lifeguard patrol season is set to begin this weekend at Hot Water Beach, but Hinds thinks it should have begun six weeks ago.
On Sunday, lifeguards were notified eight minutes after emergency services were called, despite being 400 metres away at their base, Hinds said.
‘‘The network or communications system doesn’t seem to have us tied in high enough,’’ he said.
He understood the children had been swimming near a rip.
‘‘They yelled out for help,’’ Hinds said. ‘‘[Tuyay] and a few others had gone in to pull them out.
‘‘From what I understand, he pushed his kids back towards shore and other people grabbed them. When they turned around after getting the kids back to shore, he was underwater.’’
Hinds couldn’t say whether the outcome would have been different if lifeguards were there immediately.
But he worries it could have. Hinds said the Hot Water Beach Lifeguard Service is already the longest running volunteer service in New Zealand, with the patrol lasting 230 days.
And while the Government has said it might be in a position to provide more funding in two or three years, it needs to be sooner, Hinds said. It’s especially important at Hot Water Beach where people – often there for the hot springs – aren’t prepared for the conditions of the sea.
‘‘We could use quarter of one of [the politicians’] wages and it would nearly cover the beach for the rest of the year.’’
Pauline Walynetz, who owns Hotties Beachfront Eatery on the Hot Water Beach beachfront, agreed.
‘‘You need a lifeguard here all year, even if it was just for four hours during low tide during winter – that’s when it’s the worst.’’
Robert McCallum – who watched the incident unfold from his property overlooking the beach – said it was a tough beach for lifeguards to patrol with so many people visiting the springs.
‘‘People were here at six this morning [at low tide], and you can’t expect lifeguards to be here then.’’
He thought Hot Water Beach was among the most dangerous beaches in New Zealand.
‘‘With hundreds of thousands of people coming through here now, it’s just disastrous.’’