{"id":307024,"date":"2026-02-28T21:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307024\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T21:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T21:05:08","slug":"auckland-anniversary-crash-victim-tristyn-nathans-whanau-urge-organ-donation-korero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/307024\/","title":{"rendered":"Auckland Anniversary crash victim: Tristyn Nathan\u2019s wh\u0101nau urge organ donation k\u014drero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raised in \u014ctara as one of 16 siblings, Tristyn was a talented boxer and kickboxer who represented New Zealand at a championship tournament in Malaysia and dreamed of pursuing the sport professionally.<\/p>\n

His father, Gee Nathan, recalled enrolling him in gyms at a young age as an outlet for early aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t like it at first, but grew to love it,\u201d he said, pointing proudly to his son\u2019s impressive haul of medals and trophies.<\/p>\n

The wh\u0101nau said the support they received from Tristyn\u2019s gym community after his death was overwhelming, revealing the scale of his impact on others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he loved, he loved hard,\u201d Kerry said, describing her brother as mischievous and \u201ca rebel through and through\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"GeeGee Nathan and his children Kerry, baby Kai, and Honey with a photo of the late Tristyn Nathan. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray <\/p>\n

She said the wh\u0101nau enjoyed the \u201ctime of our lives\u201d celebrating Christmas together, with Tristyn helping out on h\u0101ng\u012b duties.<\/p>\n

Only weeks later, they were faced with the heartbreaking responsibility of turning off his life support after tests showed his condition was not improving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my mind, I was still hoping,\u201d Gee said, explaining that Tristyn was strong-headed and would often do the opposite of what he was told just to prove a point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought if we said, \u2018Okay then, son, if you want to go, go,\u2019 maybe a miracle might happen, and he might have come back to us, but it never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TristynTristyn Nathan’s family say they want to encourage other wh\u0101nau M\u0101ori to consider becoming organ donors. Photo \/ Kerry Nathan<\/p>\n

Gee led several family hui to discuss organ donation, a decision the wh\u0101nau described as \u201cdeeply significant\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad approached us like, \u2018Listen, if my son is going to go out, I want him to go out doing some kind of good\u2019,\u201d Kerry said.<\/p>\n

The decision was not taken lightly. Traditional te ao M\u0101ori beliefs teach that the body is tapu (sacred) and that removing organs can disturb a person\u2019s wairua (spirit).<\/p>\n

However, Gee reasoned that if the situation were reversed, \u201cwe\u2019d be praying for someone to give Tristyn that organ\u201d.<\/p>\n

He also believed M\u0101ori and Pasifika people were among the most in need.<\/p>\n

The family later learned Tristyn\u2019s heart, kidneys and liver were donated to seven recipients, including a 3-year-old child.<\/p>\n

\"TristynTristyn Nathan died afer a motorcycle accident at only 18 years of age. Photo \/ Sylvie Whinray <\/p>\n

\u201cHe would have been all for it,\u201d Gee said, noting his son\u2019s love for children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf those people ever wanted to meet us, we\u2019d be more than happy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to put my ear on their heart,\u201d Kerry added.<\/p>\n

The wh\u0101nau hope sharing Tristyn\u2019s story encourages M\u0101ori and Pasifika families to not \u201cclose down the conversation\u201d around organ donation, saying it has the power to save lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing our brother is out there making a difference is a heartwarming feeling that we are proud to stand by,\u201d Kerry said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a life, but he saved many and helped prevent other wh\u0101nau being in our predicament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raised in \u014ctara as one of 16 siblings, Tristyn was a talented boxer and kickboxer who represented New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1443,74,3471,4624,51,3549,14134,6179,19789,26325,136537,2109,2883,167819,2720,28369,167818,111,139,69,115254,162440,213,4054,165,8229,167817,25396,1337,30859,1533],"class_list":{"0":"post-307024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-about","9":"tag-after","10":"tag-among","11":"tag-anniversary","12":"tag-auckland","13":"tag-crash","14":"tag-decision","15":"tag-died","16":"tag-donate","17":"tag-donation","18":"tag-encourage","19":"tag-family","20":"tag-hope","21":"tag-krero","22":"tag-mori","23":"tag-motorcycle","24":"tag-nathans","25":"tag-new-zealand","26":"tag-newzealand","27":"tag-nz","28":"tag-organ","29":"tag-organs","30":"tag-sports","31":"tag-teenager","32":"tag-their","33":"tag-they","34":"tag-tristyn","35":"tag-urge","36":"tag-victim","37":"tag-whnau","38":"tag-will"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307024","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=307024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}