Memories of pupil to be shared

Troy Spiers
Troy Spiers
Pembroke School will be open tomorrow for family and friends of an Oamaru boy who died after a fall down a lift shaft at an Auckland house.

People will be able to pay tribute to 11-year-old Troy Spiers and share memories and photos which will be compiled into a book for the former pupil's family.

Troy's grandfather, well known Auckland magician and Queens Service Medal recipient Alan Watson, said the family was struggling to come to terms with what happened.

‘‘It's beyond ... I can't even explain it,'' he said.

The youngster was unable to be revived after receiving critical injuries while playing hide-and-seek in a lift at the home of his other grandfather, Dennis Spiers, in Pacific Cliffs Dr, Gulf Harbour, north of Auckland, on Wednesday.

A builder who was at Mr Spier's clifftop home when the accident happened said Troy went missing during the game, and when Mr Spiers opened the lift to look for him he found him at about 1pm unresponsive with serious head injuries.

Despite frantic efforts by the builder and then emergency services, Troy could not be revived.

Troy is the son of Mike Spiers, of Oamaru, and Melanie Watson, and has an older sister, Aleisha.

Mr Watson said it was the second tragedy in the family after Troy's cousin Tiffany Watson (3) died in a swimming pool accident in 2003.

Troy had just finished year 6 at Pembroke School in Oamaru and was planning to go to Oamaru Intermediate School next year.

Pembroke School principal Brent Godfrey said he was a ‘‘neat kid'' who loved sport and competition.

‘‘He was a get-out-there-and-do-it type kid. He wasn't one for sitting down for too long,'' Mr Godfrey said.

Troy, who had been a pupil at the school since age 5, was considerate beyond his years.

‘‘He was quite a deep thinker. He would come and have chats with me every now and then when things were worrying him. We'd talk through his worries, work them out and then he'd be on his way again.''

The family had moved a few times around Oamaru but had kept Troy at Pembroke School.

Troy's sister had also been a top pupil there.

Staff were ‘‘devastated'' to hear the news of his death.

‘‘You don't expect that to happen when you say farewell to kids and the next day you find that out.

‘‘That makes it even harder - you've said your farewells, but you don't expect it to be one like this.''

Mr Godfrey said the 11-year-old was ‘‘a cheeky little fella'' but incredibly thoughtful of others.

‘‘Troy was in Pembroke's top touch rugby team which won the inter-school competition a couple of weeks ago. He also loved getting involved in the school drama productions. His dad often came to school events.''

Tributes flowed on the Pembroke School Facebook page yesterday, as people remembered Troy's ‘‘cheeky smile'', ‘‘get up and go attitude'' and ‘‘happy nature''.

Mr Godfrey said the Pembroke school office would be open from 1pm to 3pm tomorrow for Troy's family and friends to write tributes and memories and bring photos for a book for the family.

A builder working on Dennis Speirs' house described the frantic efforts to try to revive Troy.

‘‘He would have been in the lift a little while before we got to him, the poor little guy,'' the builder said.

‘‘We spent about 30 minutes trying to revive him before the fire brigade arrived and then they took over. I was working on him for a while and I thought I had him.''

He said the accident was ‘‘shocking'' and he could not stop thinking about it.

The boy was dead when paramedics arrived.

Troy's death has been referred to the coroner.

His family have requested privacy. - Additional reporting The New Zealand Herald

rebecca.ryan@odt.co.nz

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