Mum warned daughters of dangers at West Auckland beach before teen drowned

Wednesday, 17 November 2021

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

The mother of a 14-year-old girl who died after being rescued from a rip at a West Auckland beach was concerned about her swimming at the beach.

Portia Lilly Deluen, an identical twin, died during an outing with her friends at Karekare Beach on May 19, 2020.

At the time she had been looking forward to starting school again after the first Covid-19 lockdown. She was supposed to have returned to school the very next day.

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

A report into Portia’s death was released by coroner Alison Mills. It showed that the night before the beach outing her mum had expressed concern over the conditions at the beach.

* Teenager dies after rip rescue at Auckland's Karekare Beach

* Body found in search for swimmer who went missing at Karekare Beach

At the time Portia, her twin sister and two friends went to the beach there were no lifeguards on duty and few other people at the West Coast beach.

Portia’s mum had expressed concerns to her daughters the night before about the beach being unsafe and warned them of the risk of getting caught in a rip, the report said.

The group of friends went swimming around midday and became caught in a powerful rip after being hit by a large wave.

They struggled to swim back to shore, with one of the friends managing to make it. She ran to get help for the others from members of the public.

The waves at Karekare Beach on the day Portia Deluen died.

Portia’s sister and their other friend were helped back to shore but Portia was not with them.

At about 12.15pm, a member of Karekare Beach surf lifesaving club’s emergency call-out squad found Portia floating in the water and took her to shore.

CPR was given to Portia for 10 minutes by lifeguards, until the Auckland Westpac rescue helicopter arrived, but she could not be revived and died shortly after arriving at Starship hospital.

The entrance to Karekare Beach in West Auckland.

Mills said coastal drownings were continually increasing in Aotearoa and surf beaches, such as Karekare, posed the greatest risk.

Over the past 10 years, 38 per cent of beach and fatal coastal drownings in Aotearoa occurred at a surf beach, while 22 per cent of drownings at beaches between 2019 and 2020 happened while people were swimming or wading.

“Auckland’s west coast beaches are well known for the high risk they present,” Mills said. “Portia’s mother had warned Portia about swimming and the dangers of the beach.

“There were also signs at the beach which were clearly visible,” Mills said.

“However, no criticism can be directed at a decision to allow 14-year-old girls to spend the day at the beach, as such activities should be encouraged.”

While the girls were alerted to the risks of swimming at the beach, Mills said evidence suggested they were not aware of what to do when caught in a rip.

“The four girls all tried to swim back to shore rather than follow the ‘3 R Rule’ – relax, rise, ride – when caught in the rip.”

To prevent similar drownings, Surf Lifesaving New Zealand recommended people should not swim at unpatrolled areas or overestimate their ability to cope in poor conditions.

It also reminded people to watch out for rips, and if caught in one to relax and float, raise your hand to signal for help and ride the rip until it stops.

Portia had attended Glen Eden Intermediate School from 2017 to 2018. In the days following her death the school’s principal, Maree Stavert, said Portia had been a “popular and talented student”, who would always be remembered for her kindness.

“Her acceptance of diversity and her willingness to support fellow students who found school challenging made her a remarkable student. She will be forever loved and greatly missed.”