A Karitane father spent an hour in the sea yesterday preventing a jet ski with two distraught children on board from smashing into rocks after its battery went flat.
Toni Parata, son Van (8) and step-daughter Samantha Baird (14) were on a fishing expedition near Matanaka Island when the jet ski failed to start and drifted close to the rocky coastline.
Mr Parata rang emergency services before getting into the water and holding the jet ski away from rocks for more than an hour while rescuers tried to locate the trio.
They were eventually found by Dunedin man Dr Matthew Leaper and his son Samuel (14), in an inflatable boat, which towed them to shore at Karitane.
Samantha feared that without her stepfather, she and Van would have died.
‘‘We were trying to start it [the jet ski] up, but it wouldn't turn back on,'' she said.
‘‘My stepbrother, Van, got really, really scared and started having a panic attack.
‘‘I was crying.
‘‘I actually thought we were going to die.
‘‘I don't really know what we would have done if he [Mr Parata] wasn't there.''
The trio, who were all wearing life jackets, went fishing about noon. Samantha estimated they were about 2km offshore before drifting back in.
It took rescuers ‘‘ages'' to find them, she said.
‘‘I was crying when they came. I was so happy.
On shore, Samantha's mother, Luana Baird, was waiting.
‘‘She ran at me with a full-on hug,'' she said.
‘‘I don't think I'll be going in the sea for a while.''
''Dr Leaper was the ‘‘hero of the day'', Ms Baird, said.
Mr Parata said despite preparing well, including checking the jet ski's engine, things did not go as planned.
‘‘It's taking Mother Nature for granted sometimes. She's pretty powerful,'' he said.
He had ‘‘a bit of hypothermia'' and was checked by St John staff.
He was otherwise fine and ‘‘was more worried about the sharks than anything else'', he said.
The family had just moved to Dunedin from Christchurch on Saturday to escape the earthquakes.
A small crowd of locals had gathered to welcome the rescued party and Ms Baird lauded the ‘‘community spirit''.
Senior Sergeant Craig Brown, of Dunedin, said police were alerted about 1.45pm.
Dr Leaper said he and Samuel were coming ashore at Karitane from their own fishing expedition when police asked them to try to find the trio.
‘‘[Mr Parata] was in the water just trying to keep their position,'' he said.
‘‘If they'd had an anchor, they would have been fine.
‘‘It's a good lesson for people, really.
‘‘All's well that ends well,'' Dr Leaper said.
