By Gurbir Singh (Hamilton, NZ),16 Jan.,2018
A tragic drowning incident at Waimarama Beach in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, claimed the life of a 26-year old, Hemin Vinubhai Limbachiya, on Sunday,14th Jan. His identity was confirmed by the police today.
The quick actions by the members of public, who raised the alarm and went into the water to help, saved the life of his wife, Tanvi Bhavsar, who was airlifted to hospital in a serious condition.
She is now reported to be in a stable condition.
Another male relative who entered the water with the couple, managed to reach the shore and was treated by ambulance staff at the scene.
It is believed the trio entered the water after 5.30pm when the lifesavers had finished working and got into distress in a channel about 50 metres from shore, at 6.50pm.
Tanvi was conscious, but Hemin was not breathing when he was pulled from the water. Surf lifesavers tried CPR for over 20 minutes, but could not revive him.
Hemin who hails from Baroda(Gujarat) had married Tanvi recently.
Their exact immigration status in New Zealand could not still be confirmed, but reports suggest that Hemin had initially come to study in Auckland, and the couple were now living in Napier where Hemin had started working.
This is the not the first case of drowning death of an Indian in New Zealand.
The most recent one was on December 1 last year, when Akhil Tangri from Ludhiana, drowned at a West Auckland beach on his 21st birthday. He was in the country to study and had been in the country only in July.
-----
Gurbir Singh is a New Zealand-based Freelance Feature Writer & Journalist. he can be contacted at: gurbir@journalist.com