Follow on Twitter
Email A Friend
Sue Matthews believes the kayaker she helped rescue from wintry water temperatures off the Papamoa coast on the morning of June 20, could have died if he had been in the water much longer.
A 50-year-old Tauranga man was kayaking about 400 metres offshore from the Papamoa Surf Club when his kayak overturned just before 11am.
Papamoa Surf Life Saving emergency squad member Sue Matthews breathes a sigh of relief after rescuing a kayaker from water on the morning of June 20.
“The water is freezing out there. He could have died,” says Sue.
She and her husband Steve are the on duty emergency call out squad for Papamoa Surf Life Saving.
The man was in the water for about 30 to 40 minutes and was taken to Tauranga Hospital by ambulance with moderate hypothermia.
Sue says the kayaker had a life jacket and radio with him but the layers of warm woollen clothing he had on made him very heavy in the water.
“He just couldn’t get back on the kayak and the life threatening thing was the cold.”
The kayaker used his radio to alert rescuers of his situation and when Sue and her husband arrived, two fishing boats were already there.
“The fishermen brought him back to shore and we dragged the kayak in. He was just mumbling a bit but by the time he got on shore you could see he was exhausted.”
She says the ocean is freezing at this time of the year but people need to carefully consider what they wear.
