Detective drowned on bachelors' trip after raft capsized in rapid

Tuesday, 3 January 2023

Australian detective Joshua Paroci died in a rafting incident in Queenstown, in 2018.

An Australian detective on a bachelors’ trip to Queenstown drowned when he was swept down a river after his raft capsized in a rapid.

Detective Senior Constable Joshua Paroci desperately tried to cling to a rope after being thrown into the water and was just a metre from safety when he lost his grip and was carried away.

He later grabbed onto a rescue kayak but let go, exhausted. Those with him fought to save him, but he died on the bank of the Shotover River.

No one was officially blamed following Paroci’s death on May 19, 2018, but the company that ran the trip, Challenge Rafting, has since improved a number of safety policies, including introducing a weight limit of 120kg for participants. Paroci was 124kg at the time of his death.

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The Shotover River, north of Queenstown, is a favourite spot for adventure sports.

Paroci, 31, a married father with a young son from Sydney, was on the second day of the bachelors’ trip with five “boisterous” friends when the accident happened.

A report by Coroner Heather McKenzie said their raft flipped on a rapid known as the Toilet and the occupants were tipped out.

Igor Pletikosa was among the group and said he remembered being in the water.

“The rip was carrying me, and I was swallowing a lot of water. I was underneath the raft and I think we were all still laughing at this point,” he said.

Guides said it was not unusual for a raft to flip on that particular rapid.

Paroci ended up hanging onto rocks on the right side of the river, along with two others from the group.

Guide Tuscany Foot threw a safety rope to Paroci first because he looked the least stable, the report said.

Two months before Paroci’s death, another man, Keith 'Chief' Haare also died in an incident on the Shotover River, prompting tributes from friends, family and fellow rafters.

Paroci caught the rope and was brought towards the shallower side of the river.

Others waited on the river bank to help him climb up.

But when Paroci was just a metre from safety he let go of the rope, and continued floating down the river.

“I think he just didn’t have the strength to hold onto the rope any more,” Pletikosa said.

“He looked to be very panicked. It just slipped through his hands.”

Paroci went down the river in the position they were taught – feet first and with the current.

Safety kayaker Raj Gurung saw him float down and go underwater for “probably less than 10 seconds” as he progressed through the rapid.

Paroci popped back up and held onto the kayak by the front hand grips with both hands as instructed while they headed through the next rapid, looking for a place to stop.

But then he suddenly let go.

“He couldn’t hold it. I think he was exhausted,” Gurung said.

He screamed at Paroci to grab his kayak, but he could not. He was still conscious.

Gurung grabbed Paroci’s life jacket with his left hand and tried to paddle with his right.

With the assistance of the two other guides, Paroci was brought over to the left-hand side of the river.

Joshua Paroci, pictured with his wife Erica, died wile rafting in Queenstown in 2018.

They tried to manoeuvre him onto the raft but were unable to until a third guide helped.

Another rafter, who had a background in nursing and lifeguarding, observed that Paroci’s size meant it was “very, very difficult to get him onto the raft.”

By the time he was out of the raft and on flat ground, Paroci was unconscious.

Those at the scene tried to resuscitate him for for 45 minutes until a rescue helicopter arrived from Queenstown. He was confirmed dead shortly afterwards.

An initial pathologist’s report found the cause of death was drowning, but observed Paroci was on medicine for high blood pressure.

Paroci’s Sydney-based doctor said he had longstanding obesity, high cholesterol and was not very physically active.

Queenstown is called the adventure capital for good reason.

However, he had never shown any signs or symptoms suggesting he had cardiac disease.

His wife, Erica Paroci, said he regularly went to the gym, walked around the local area and swam with their young son.

Coroner McKenzie sought a second pathologist’s opinion, who found cardiac disease was a possible cause of the death, but not probable.

The pathologist said the prolonged effort from hands and forearms in a person weighing 124kg needed to maintain grip on the rope was “probably very considerable indeed”.

Paroci’s hands would also have been very cold in water of 5.4C, further complicating maintaining his grip on the rope, the pathologist said.

Police and Maritime New Zealand investigated Paroci’s death and did not file any prosecutions.

The coroner found he died by drowning and did not make any further recommendations.

Extensive safety briefings had been given, and a waiver form was signed before the trip, she said.

Challenge Rafting has made several changes since Paroci’s death, including introducing a 120kg weight limit.

“This is to protect guides when pulling heavy passengers out of the water from any back/strain injury and to allow faster recovery of swimmers,” the report said.

GoPro cameras are also now used on every trip, there are extra safety lines attached on rapids, a rock from the Toilet rapid has been removed and a second safety kayak is used in some cases.

Paroci was a detective constable working in the New South Wales’ state crime command’s child abuse and sex crimes squad, and was also studying for a law degree.

His wife declined to comment when contacted by Stuff.