Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
- In December 2020, 2-year-old Ranger Hetaraka was found floating face down in a pool at the Napier Aquatic Centre
- He died four days later in Starship Hospital from 'hypoxic encephalopathy' due to complications of drowning
- Coroner Erin Wooley investigated the tragic incident and found pool staff and lifeguards acted appropriately
- She said Ranger's death would have been prevented with parental supervision, and that people must remember 'lifeguards are not babysitters'
The drowning death of a toddler at a Napier pool never would have happened if his parents were supervising him, an investigation has concluded.
Ranger Hetaraka, 2, and his whānau were at Napier Aquatic Centre for a birthday party in December 2020, where CCTV footaged showed him playing with another child and an older family member leaving them unsupervised.
A lifeguard was watching the children and stopped Ranger twice as he tried to leave the toddlers' pool and enter another pool. When the lifeguard yelled and asked who was with the child, a family member carried Ranger back into the toddlers' pool.
However, Ranger walked back to the deeper learners pool and after a few seconds, his head could be seen.
Coroner Erin Woolley said: "Ranger's head appears to bob above and below the water's surface. During this time there were around 15 people coming and going from the childrens' pools and several more walking around the perimeter of the pool area."
He died four days later in Starship Hospital from 'hypoxic encephalopathy' due to complications of drowning.
Coroner Woolley concluded that constant active adult supervision of babies and toddlers around water was the only way to keep them safe.
"Lifeguards are not babysitters and do not replace the close supervision of parents or caregivers," Coroner Woolley said.
Since Ranger's death, the council has taken numerous steps such as installing new signage, three new CCTV cameras, and tinting the pool windows to reduce glare on the water.
Napier Aquatic Centre has also introduced a new policy where if a family is warned about leaving a child unsupervised in the water, the child will be removed from the pool by the lifeguard and told they cannot re-enter.