{"id":131095,"date":"2025-11-12T10:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/131095\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T10:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T10:32:15","slug":"glenfield-rugby-player-t-j-kahakis-sudden-death-prompts-tributes-to-gentle-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/131095\/","title":{"rendered":"Glenfield rugby player T.J. Kahaki\u2019s sudden death prompts tributes to \u2018gentle soul\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe\u2019s just left such a hole in our hearts. It\u2019s just me and my two sons … there was always the three of us. They called us the tight three.<\/p>\n

\"T.J.T.J. Kahaki (left) died suddenly after he suffered a medical event.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne went for ice cream, we all went for ice cream. One watched a movie, we all watched the movie. And now it\u2019s like our third wheel has gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s like coming to terms with life without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the night of his death, Kahaki said, she received a call from his friend after her son had suffered a medical event.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeemed like time stood still. But then shortly after I arrived, the firemen arrived, followed quickly by paramedics, and they all tried very hard to resuscitate him and bring him back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very tragic, but I\u2019m happy that he was surrounded by his friends, and he was with people he loved, and he wasn\u2019t on his own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kahaki said her son\u2019s death has rocked the entire community, and hundreds paid their respects at the local rugby club rooms, including teachers and his students.<\/p>\n

She said children \u201cflocked\u201d to her son, and he was extremely gentle and non-judgmental to anyone he crossed paths with.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was 6\u20323 and he was built like a brick s***house and he was a gentle giant. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had the best heart,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

T.J. Kahaki was set to begin a three-year practical teaching course, which would help him to reach his goal of becoming a M\u0101ori teacher.<\/p>\n

His mother said he just recently had a big \u201cbeautiful celebration\u201d with family and friends for his 21st birthday in September.<\/p>\n

Kahaki said her son had been a massive Warriors fan since he was a young child and was an avid collector of the team\u2019s jerseys.<\/p>\n

A Givealittle<\/a> page was set up for the family to help ease the financial burden and to give him the send-off that he deserves, the page said.<\/p>\n

Celebrated rugby club member <\/p>\n

The Glenfield Rugby Club paid tribute to the \u201ccherished member\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cT.J. quite literally grew up at the club. From a young age, he was a familiar face around the grounds, always smiling, always helping, and always bringing joy to those around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe watched him grow from a curious child into a caring and fun-loving boy, and then into a respectful, generous young man,\u201d the club told the Herald.<\/p>\n

Kahaki played junior rugby for Glenfield, and the club said he embodied the culture and values of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a natural on the field, but even more so off it \u2013 always ready to lend a hand, share a laugh, or just be a supporter.”<\/p>\n

\"Troy-JacobTroy-Jacob Kahaki (right) had been a huge Warriors fan since childhood, his mum says.<\/p>\n

They said his mother had been a cornerstone of Glenfield Rugby Club for many years, serving as a dedicated club secretary, club manager, and a valued member of the committee.<\/p>\n

The club also said Kahaki\u2019s father was a loyal clubman who played for many years in the President\u2019s Rugby team, the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

Last year, Kahaki and his father were on the field together in a special father-son Presidents\u2019 match.<\/p>\n

\u201cT.J. was a beautiful soul \u2013 fun-loving, caring, and always smiling. His loss leaves a void that cannot be filled, but his memory will live on in every corner of our club, in every game played, and in every heart he touched.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoe mai r\u0101 e te rangatira. Rest easy, T.J. You will always be one of us,\u201d the club said.<\/p>\n

Sign up to The Daily H<\/a>, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHe\u2019s just left such a hole in our hearts. It\u2019s just me and my two sons … there…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3952,6928,634,6179,82217,1445,90345,90342,42,90344,43,529,9617,48047,6327,18484,4918,24994,90343,61,40,38,41,39,10140,6123,102,4741],"class_list":["post-131095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-aucklands","tag-celebrating","tag-death","tag-died","tag-fawkes","tag-friends","tag-gentle","tag-glenfield","tag-headlines","tag-kahakis","tag-news","tag-north","tag-player","tag-prompts","tag-rugby","tag-shore","tag-soul","tag-sudden","tag-tj","tag-to","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-tributes","tag-while","tag-with","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}