Tributes paid to 'beautiful' identical twin, 14, who died at Karekare Beach

Thursday, 21 May 2020

The Tone6 music group paid tribute to Portia Deluen on their social media page with a special song.

A 14-year-old girl who died after being rescued from a rip at a West Auckland beach was looking forward to starting school again after the coronavirus lockdown.

Portia Lilly Deluen, who was one of three siblings, and an identical twin, was due to go back to high school on Wednesday but died a day before, during an outing with her friends at Karekare Beach.

According to Surf Life Saving New Zealand, Deluen was one of four teenagers that were caught in a rip at the West Auckland beach on Tuesday.

Karekare Beach, pictured on the day Portia Deluen died after getting caught in a rip.

Three members of the Karekare Surf Life Saving Club's emergency call out squad attended within eight minutes of being notified.

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While three of the teens managed to make it to shore, Deluen had to be retrieved by a lifeguard with a rescue tube.

Lifeguards performed CPR on her for 10 minutes until the Auckland Rescue Helicopter arrived and flew her to the hospital.

Deluen died shortly after arriving at Starship Hospital.

A friend of the family said she was an angel who was loved by everyone, and she would be missed.

'We all loved her, she was caring, she was kind, it's such tragic accident.'

Another friend said her grandson was close to Deluen's family and often spent time with them at their Kelston home.

'She was such a beautiful girl, both her and her twin sister, and we will always remember her.'

The Tone6 singing group, made up of young people in Auckland, posted a tribute to Deluen on their social media page.

The song, a rendition of The Winan's Gonna Be Alright remembered the teenager who was known and close to some members of the group.

A Givelittle page has been set up by her father's employer to help her whanau 'during this tremendously difficult and heartbreaking time'.

In 2016 while in Primary school, Deluen won first prize in designing a Christmas coffee cup competition and won $4000 for her school, Glen Eden Primary.

She competed against 300 students from across the country in a competition which was set up KidsCan and The Coffee Club.

Deluen's large takeaway cup featured a drawing of a cow and a sheep helping a kiwi bird place a star on the top of a Christmas tree.

Deluen also loved sports and was a crucial member of the mixed touch team of Glen Eden Intermediate School. She won MVP in the 2018 Turbo Touch competition in Auckland.

SLSNZ said their thoughts were with Deluen's family at this time.

Her death will be referred to the Coroner and SLSNZ's Coastal Safety team will also work with emergency services to establish the circumstances.