Wife of drowned man Hemin Limbachiya has been discharged from hospital

Tuesday, 16 January 2018

The wife of a man who drowned at Waimarama Beach on Sunday has been discharged from hospital.

The woman, understood to be Tanvi Bhavsar, left Hawke's Bay Hospital on Tuesday afternoon, in the wake of husband Hemin Limbachiya's death.

She was flown to the hospital on Sunday evening with moderate injuries in a serious condition, and was in the intensive care unit. Her status improved to stable on Monday afternoon.

Limbachiya, 26, got into trouble in the water with his wife and a male relative about 6.50pm at the beach on Sunday, after surf lifesavers had completed their duties for the evening.

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Cameron McCallum, 16, was able to help save the woman by diving into the waves, but could not prevent Limbachiya from drowning.

McCallum, who described himself as an 'all right swimmer', stayed with the pair for about five minutes until a surfer came and took the wife to shore. Then he and Limbachiya trod water waiting for help.

'When I got to shore everything was a blur. I was dazed. The paramedics told me not to go to sleep. I swallowed quite a bit of water,' he said.

Senior surf lifesaver Phil Harman, who was on duty, said the male relative who was with the couple managed to get back to the beach by himself.

When Limbachiya was brought to shore, he was not breathing. CPR was performed on the beach by surf lifesavers for about 20 minutes.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife was taken in the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter to hospital.

The three swimmers were all believed to have migrated recently to New Zealand from India.

Waimarama Beach is about 30 kilometres southeast of Hastings, and is a popular destination for holidaymakers.

Limbachiya's death has been referred to the coroner.