The mother of a teenager swept out to sea in Northland on Saturday was comforted by a stranger as she stood on the beach in anguish, watching the frantic search for her son.
The stranger, Auckland woman Rutu Pandya, is still praying the 16-year-old will be found, and is deeply affected by his family's pain.
She was at 90 Mile Beach at Hukatere in the Far North with her husband and a friend when the tragedy unfolded.
"The boy's mother was absolutely frantic, in tears."
Mrs Pandya did the only thing she could think of to help. "I just put my arms around her and hugged her ... What do you say to a person who has just lost their child?"
The teen was swimming with family when he was swept out to sea. A search produced no sign of him.
Mrs Pandya has not been able to stop thinking about the boy and his family. "When you see someone in that much pain, you never get over it."
Police and volunteers scoured the shoreline for the teen's body yesterday. Far North Rescue chairman Dave Ross expected the search to take up to three days.
The suspected drowning is one of several water tragedies this holiday period. On Boxing Day 47-year-old Simon Camp died at Karioitahi Beach, 70km southwest of Auckland, while surfing on a board he got for Christmas, police said.
On Christmas Day Heng Li, 25, died at Northland's Uretiti Beach, and Imogen Saleupolu-Mataafi, 1, is believed to have drowned in a pool set up in her family's Manurewa backyard. Anna Leask, additional reporting: NZME.
