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There was nothing two young brothers could do to save the life of their great-uncle when he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage while fishing on Whangaroa Harbour on Saturday, but their courage in an extraordinarily traumatic situation has earned them enormous respect from their family and friends.
And no one was prouder of young Aucklanders Sam and Ben Weeks, aged 13 and 11, than their aunt, Carolyn Smith (Kerikeri), who said her nephews had certainly earned the fishing trip that had ended in tragedy.
Her uncle, 62-year-old Kerikeri man Ian Wilson, had borrowed a dory, a far from large craft, to take the boys out on the harbour after they had well and truly done their bit to help the Indian Ocean tsunami victims.
Sam, a talented saxophonist, played in the street in Paihia last week while Ben and their nine-year-old cousin Tabitha Clarke, who lives in Paihia, exhorted passers-by to donate. And in the course of three hours spread over three days they raised $791 for the Red Cross relief appeal.
Came Saturday and they were itching to get out on the water, and Mr Wilson was very happy to take them.
“Ian suddenly complained of a massive headache, and within two minutes he had lost consciousness,” Mrs Smith said. “Thankfully he didn’t fall out of the boat, or we could have had a triple tragedy.”
The boys now found themselves in a terrible predicament, but did everything right. While Sam cradled Mr Wilson’s head, and ensured that he did not fall from the boat, Ben used the cellphone his mother had told him to leave in the car to make contact with family in Kerikeri. The signal wasn’t a particularly strong one and he had to make four calls in all before he could fully explain what had happened, but even then the brothers were in real difficulty.
“They didn’t know where they were and neither did we,” Mrs Smith said.
They finally managed to flag down another boat, however, which took them to Kingfish Lodge where they were transferred to a faster craft and speedily delivered to Whangaroa, where they were met by an emergency response which Mrs Smith described as fantastic.
“Everyone was so professional,” she said, heaping praise on the first response unit from Paihia (Shane and Robyn Schrafft), the Kaeo Fire Brigade, the Electricity rescue helicopter crew and all the boaties who gave their assistance. And the 111 operators had been excellent.
“They (the 111 service) have had a few problems lately so it’s only fair to say that on this occasion they did a wonderful job,” Mrs Smith said.
“Everyone who responded was just so professional. I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for Ian.”
Mr Wilson was flown to Whangarei Hospital but never regained consciousness. He died on Sunday.
The experience had obviously been a traumatic one for Sam and Ben, Mrs Smith said, but hey had been assured that they had done everything that could possible have been expected of them, and that they could have done nothing more.
The brothers had returned to Auckland briefly but were back in Kerikeri yesterday for Mr Wilson’s funeral. And although they had obviously had a very difficult time, they could be in no doubt just how proud their family was of them.
“We’ve got a medal for each of them, just to show them that we recognise and appreciate the courage they showed,” Mrs Smith said.
“We will give them to them in a day or two, when things have become a little bit easier.”
And, she added, with the passage of time, the two boys would be able to comfort themselves with the knowledge that their beloved uncle had not suffered.
“He died doing what he enjoyed with two people he loved very much,” Mrs Smith said.
“He couldn’t have asked for much more than that.”
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