\u201cI got the call from Alexandria\u2019s mum [Trish], who was crying on the phone,\u201d Wolfgramm told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cXandria [Alexandria] called her and then hung up as it had just happened at the beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was not clear what had happened, only that Semisi gave his life to save his sons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Herald understands the family were due back to fly home to Auckland on November 20, the day after the incident.<\/p>\n
According to a Tongan police report, Kalu, his wife and their sons arrived at the beach for lunch, and two of the three boys went straight into the water.<\/p>\n
Semisi Kalu and his family were due to fly home the day after the tragedy.<\/p>\n
The report says Kalu and others noticed the boys had been taken out too far and were struggling.<\/p>\n
Kalu entered the water. One son managed to swim back to shore, helped by an incoming wave, but his brother continued to struggle.<\/p>\n
Kalu managed to get to the boy and help him back to shore, the report says. Despite CPR attempts, Kalu died at the scene. <\/p>\n
In a heartfelt Facebook post, a grieving Alexandria wrote: \u201cSemisi died giving his life to save two of our sons out at sea in Tonga.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe leaves this world as an undefeated champion and now our forever hero\ud83e\ude76.<\/p>\n
Semisi Kalu and his wife Alexandria.<\/p>\n
\u201cI apologise for the delay in sharing this, as I have been trying to navigate through the shock and heartbreak while holding our boys close.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for your love, prayers and support. In the darkest moment of our lives, your kindness means more than you will ever know.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur sons and I will be returning home to Auckland with our hero, to lay [him] to rest where we built our life, our memories, and our family together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith God\u2019s strength, I will share more details of arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final service to honour the life of Semisi Kalu will be held today at Fountains Funeral Home in Papakura.<\/p>\n
In a video, Alexandria continued: \u201cThis is the hardest video I\u2019ve ever made. Our family holiday became the darkest chapter of our lives as we lost the most loving husband and father. <\/p>\n
\u201cYet even in our pain, I thank God for blessing me with a man like you, Semisi \u2013 a husband who worked, sacrificed, and loved us with everything he had. <\/p>\n
\u201cNever a widow, forever your wife. Your love and legacy live on in us, until we meet again. Forever my eternal love and companion.<\/p>\n
Semisi Kalu was enjoying his holiday in Tonga with his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove is eternal. Heaven gained you, but my heart keeps you. My hero. My husband. I love you.<\/p>\n
\u201cForever yours. Forever us.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy love. My champion. Our hero.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy gentle, humble giant. I love you through this lifetime and the next. Our boys are safe asleep beside me because of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family returned to Auckland with Kalu\u2019s body last week. There will be services for him today and tomorrow at Fountains Funerals in Papakura, and a burial at Manukau Memorial Gardens tomorrow. <\/p>\n
Semisi Kalu.<\/p>\n
Wolfgramm, 56, who won the super heavyweight silver medal at the 1996 Olympics, said Kalu was handy with the gloves, having represented Tonga at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.<\/p>\n
Kalu also fought heavyweight bouts in the Auckland Boxing Association ring, including the 8-man Heavyweight Tournaments – and there are many clips of him on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Former Tongan champion boxer Paea Wolfgramm’s niece is Semisi Kalu’s bereaved wife Alexandria.<\/p>\n
Wolfgramm said he is heartbroken for his niece and her three boys.<\/p>\n
He first met Kalu in 2009 when Kalu was trialling for the Tongan Commonwealth Boxing team, and Wolfgramm was in the islands at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cSemisi and Alexandria came to New Zealand and settled in Auckland,\u201d Wolfgramm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe worked for a few different companies but did his ticket and then took the plunge to start his own business, Kalu Drainage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI admire him for that. Not everyone comes to New Zealand and gets qualified and then sets up their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wolfgramm met his niece and her boys when they arrived home from Tonga with their dad\u2019s casket.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know what to say,\u201d Wolfgramm said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou give them a hug and tell them we are here for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine what they are going through, but there is plenty of family around them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family said all were welcome to pay their respects at 7pm today at Fountains Funerals in Papakura.<\/p>\n
Joseph Los\u2019e is the Kaupapa M\u0101ori Editor and joined NZME in 2022. Los\u2019e was chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News, covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and before joining NZME worked for urban M\u0101ori organisation Wh\u0101nau Waipareira. Los\u2019e is also half Tongan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI got the call from Alexandria\u2019s mum [Trish], who was crying on the phone,\u201d Wolfgramm told the Herald.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[15785,13849,703,49,48,29549,8522,143692,143693,1855,6465,143691,30519,5268,39206,143690,135024,82,47178,53319,143694,11241,125008,16860,9230,9911],"class_list":["post-325178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-beach","tag-boxer","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-died","tag-dream","tag-drowns","tag-during","tag-heavyweight","tag-holiday","tag-kalu","tag-lives","tag-new","tag-saving","tag-semisi","tag-sons","tag-sports","tag-swimming","tag-tonga","tag-tonganborn","tag-tragedy","tag-turned","tag-when","tag-while","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=325178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/325178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=325178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=325178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=325178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}