Father-of-three Varun Chand passed away on Sunday after his canoe capsized in Lake Roto Kohatu, north of Christchurch city.
His seven-year-old daughter was on board, Chand was not wearing a life jacket during the voyage according to his wife Sheron Shoma Dutt.
The canoe had been purchased on Christmas morning, Chand had left home at 7am to collect the boat - telling his wife he planned to surprise them.
"It was a family surprise," Dutt told the Herald.
"He was such a kind person, whatever we wanted he would fulfil it - he just loved surprises."
Chand returned later that morning and took his two children out to Lake Roto for a paddle - leaving Dutt and their eldest child back home.
Dutt had been sleeping when she was awoken that evening by a phone call from an unknown number. She initially thought it was a scammer, but the caller asked to speak with Chand’s eldest son.
"I saw my son, he was crying and he said [Chand] had fallen out of the boat and they were still looking for him," she said.
When Dutt arrived at the lake, she found the area swarmed by police and a helicopter flying above. Her daughter was sitting in an ambulance, cold from the water.
"I held my daughter, that’s when the police came to tell me what had happened," she said.
When she tried to wriggle free, the vessel overturned and left them both in the water.
The daughter, who was wearing a life jacket, was given help by a member of the public after being spotted, however, Chand and the canoe were still yet to be located.
Police diving squad members were still in Wellington at the time of the incident, according to Dutt, which meant an underwater search couldn’t begin until the following day.
"We had family and friends who were keen to dive into the water themselves and try to look for him, but police wouldn’t let them."
Dutt spent that night with her father-in-law and extended family. The following morning they returned to the lake, but found the gate had been shut closed.
Hours passed before police got in touch with Dutt to inform her Chand’s body had been found - seven metres underwater.
"I lost my memory at that point, I didn’t know what to do. I just started crying," said Dutt.
Despite the emotion, Dutt cried quietly as she didn’t want her mother-in-law to learn of Chand’s passing at that moment.
This was due to the fact the family had already lost Chand’s brother, 33-year-old Avinash Chand in a crash in Ashburton last year.
The crash in June last year killed four people, it was described by one of the first people at the scene as "like a bomb going off".
Now grieving a second loss in the family, Dutt said the family has gathered again on Wednesday morning to fulfil one of Chand’s last wishes.
"We’ve got a boat that my husband wanted to take out to sea, my son said we will do his last wish and take the boat into the water," she said.
Chand, a churchgoer, is remembered by his family as a kind, loving family man who would do anything for those he was close to.
He worked as a joiner and was a confident swimmer - he would actively swim in the ocean when his family lived in Fiji.
Police have since urged people to take water safety precautions seriously as drowning deaths have increased across the country in recent weeks.
Two others occurred on Boxing Day in South Auckland and Ōpōtiki and another one early yesterday morning at Kaitoke Regional Park in Upper Hutt.
Surf Lifesaving New Zealand has also announced it is extending patrol hours along the Mount Maunganui coastline due to the number of people getting into trouble - with 10 rescues involving 19 people on Boxing Day alone.
"Sadly, each year our staff see tragic outcomes occur in and around water," a police spokesperson said, explaining that last year was the worst for drownings in a decade with 90 deaths.
"This is not the outcome anyone wants. We want everyone to come home to their whānau after a day enjoying the water."
- Nathan Morton
