The wife of one of the men who drowned at Piha Beach in Auckland on Saturday has no one left after her family died from COVID-19.
A friend of the two men, Hiren Patel, told NZ Herald the wife was at Piha when the incident occurred.
He said the wife had already suffered the loss of both her parents and her brother to COVID-19.
"She has no one to care for and no one to live for," Patel told the outlet.
"We are all there [for] her, but everything you say is just hard to believe, you know, you say 'calm down and look forward to the future', but how can she when the only person who cared for her is gone."
The community is devastated after Auckland had six drowning fatalities in just three days.
Two people drowned at unpatrolled beaches on Friday, one at Narrow Neck Beach on Auckland’s North Shore, and another at Big Manly Beach on the Whangaparāoa peninsula.
On Saturday, in addition to the two men who drowned at Piha, one person died at Takapuna.
Most recently, a person drowned on Sunday at the unpatrolled Tawharanui Regional Park, north of Auckland.
Northern Region lifeguards also responded to two separate incidents involving spinal injuries at Whangārei Heads and Muriwai.
Both incidents occurred between the flags, caused by swimmers being dumped into the sand by large waves, and could easily have proven fatal had lifeguards not been on hand to respond, Surf Life Saving Northern Region (SLSNR) said in a statement.
SLSNR Chief Executive Matt Williams said there was a clear correlation between the drownings, which all occurred either at unpatrolled beaches, or outside regular patrol hours, and the lifesaving interventions by lifeguards.
"Simply put, if you swim at a patrolled beach, during patrol hours, in between the flags, you are going to have a lifeguard nearby who can respond immediately if something happens," Williams said.
"If you swim at an unpatrolled beach, or outside patrol hours, you are placing yourself at an incredible risk. These deaths were tragic, but some may have been preventable if lifeguards were actively patrolling the area."
It's something Paris Schlooz, from Manurewa, knows all too well.
In 2019, a quick dip on Muriwai Beach with her friends took a scary turn for Schlooz after the group got caught in a rip.
With the help of two surfers on the beach, Schlooz narrowly avoided being counted among New Zealand's devastating drowning statistics.
"We just didn't even think. We just went straight out into the ocean and got caught in a rip so fast… It just happened so fast," Schlooz told co-host Ryan Bridge on AM.
"You swim out and then all of a sudden you can't touch the bottom and then you're being pulled out, it's a really strong rip and the waves were huge. It was like you are going back and forth and aren't getting anywhere."
It was November and there were no official lifeguards patrolling the beach at the time of the year.
Separated from her friends and sister, Schlooz said she thought she was going to die as the waves continuously pummeled her.
"There was nothing I felt like I could do," she said.
Luckily, her older sister managed to swim back to shore and sought the help of two surfers on the beach who happened to be off-duty lifeguards.
"It was a miracle," Schlooz said.
Schlooz and one of her friends were rescued by the two surfers. Schlooz was taken to Middlemore Hospital by an Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter where she had fluid drained from her chest.
She told AM she learnt how dangerous beaches can be and the importance of swimming between the flags when they are patrolled by lifeguards.
SLSNR said in a statement it is open to investigating how they can establish patrols or improve safety outcomes at some unpatrolled beaches, however, resourcing and manpower is an issue for the association.
Williams said the weekday paid lifeguarding service has limited funding and capability, while the weekend patrol service relies on volunteer lifeguards.
"While we want to be everywhere, we also need to focus on the coastlines we currently patrol. The community must also contribute their part, by ensuring they swim at lifeguarded beaches, during the patrol hours," Williams said.
