\u201cHe turned around from inside the hole, and he was just smiling at me as he always was and I yelled out that I loved him,\u201d Cooke told the Herald.<\/p>\n
Young dad Kane Watson (inset) lost his life in a beach tragedy at Muriwai. Composite photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I walked back down to the bottom of the sand dune and just as I got back down to the bottom of it, my 10-year-old sister yells out, \u2018Kane\u2019s buried\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran over, I gave her the baby and it\u2019s only his feet sticking out.<\/p>\n
Cooke and Watson had gone to Muriwai Beach<\/a> with their 1-and-a-half-year-old daughter and her 10, 9 and 6-year-old sons from a previous relationship, as well as her 10-year-old sister.<\/p>\n Both Cooke and her 9-year-old son started trying to dig Watson out from under 2m of sand.<\/p>\n The 10-year-old ran to get help, while frantic calls to 111 were made.<\/p>\n Cooke said other beach goers rushed to help; including a teen who had been riding a dirt bike nearby.<\/p>\n Cooke, two men in their mid-30s and the teen eventually managed to pull Watson free.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time you touch any bit of sand at that point, it\u2019s just caving in on itself more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Watson was unresponsive when he was rescued<\/a>, with the two men starting CPR immediately.<\/p>\n Local volunteer firefighters took over the CPR mission when they arrived soon after.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were all so amazing,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey just worked so freaking endlessly, trying to bring him back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n Their efforts were successful, managing to restart Watson\u2019s heart near where he had been buried.<\/p>\n He was later airlifted to hospital.<\/p>\n But Cooke \u2013 who turned 29 in the week leading up to the tragedy – realised the prognosis was \u201cgrim\u201d and Watson died on August 25.<\/p>\n Search for \u201cmost amazing\u201d teen<\/p>\n There is no shortage of people that Cooke wants to thank for helping to rescue her partner, trying to bring him back to life, then caring for him in hospital.<\/p>\n She said at one stage about 30 people were taking turns to provide CPR for \u201ctwo minutes, then swapping over\u201d to someone else.<\/p>\n \u201cI just could not believe how amazing these people were together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just so amazed these people dropped everything they were doing to come running to help a complete stranger.\u201d<\/p>\n Among those she has the most admiration for was a teenage boy who she said \u201cthrew down\u201d the dirt bike he was riding to rush to help.<\/p>\n \u201cHe ruined his motocross boots, that cost about $300, to run through the sand to help,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis kid just threw everything down to come running. For a child to do that to me is just amazing. That just shows the kind of person he\u2019s going to be.<\/p>\n \u201cI really wanted to get him a gift. And go see him personally.\u201d<\/p>\n A \u2018perfect smile\u2019<\/p>\n Watson and Cooke knew each other as high school students in their early teens.<\/p>\n But it wasn\u2019t until about three years ago – in their mid-20s – that they began a relationship.<\/p>\n That followed a picnic at the beach where Cooke said she was taken by \u201cthis perfect smile and this way to draw people in\u201d.<\/p>\n She was already the mother of three children, and in 2023 they had their own daughter.<\/p>\n Watson doted on her, just as he did on Cooke\u2019s other children, and the two girls they later fostered.<\/p>\n In the months before his death, Watson was incredibly excited about the impending birth of their second child together, Cooke said. <\/p>\n That baby is due on January 1, 2026 – the day that would have been Watson\u2019s 29th birthday. A scan after the tragedy revealed the baby is a boy.<\/p>\n He will be named Zire Kane; a name they had chosen together \u2013 the middle name a tribute to the father he will never meet.<\/p>\n Watson worked in property maintenance, including fencing and lawn mowing, and keenly supported all the children\u2019s sporting interests, Cooke said.<\/p>\n That included coaching softball and basketball teams, and being a parent helper at the children\u2019s motocross events.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was so involved,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the most amazing person. He was just the most gentlest person ever.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the one that you\u2019d always see running to help every kid that had fallen over or crashed. He was the first one there picking them up, starting their bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson couldn\u2019t ride a motorbike when he first started dating Cooke.<\/p>\n But soon after he bought a dirt bike. \u201cIt was like this complete passion of his,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a goal to own every bike ever made. That was his thing. I thought, \u2018That\u2019s a lot of bikes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Watson went through 65 different road motorbikes in a year and a half, regularly changing his ride of choice by making bike swaps with other owners.<\/p>\n \u2018Kane would be very proud\u2019<\/p>\n Cooke said her world was turned upside down by the tragedy at Muriwai Beach.<\/p>\n A time when she and Watson should have been planning for the arrival of their second child has been instead a time of deep pain.<\/p>\n Reminders of Watson and the life they shared, and what Cooke has lost, are ever-present.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a hard journey,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not ever something I pictured – being in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n But she said she has a \u201clovely group of children\u201d looking after her.<\/p>\n The blended family includes two 10-year-old girls that the couple had only recently legally fostered.<\/p>\n \u201cKane would be very proud of these boys and how much they want to look after me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the girls are an absolutely great help. They\u2019re a great help with the baby.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest thing is just trying to keep his memory alive and telling my boys [to] turn out just like him. Once he came into their lives… they just changed… so much.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were always loving people, but just the little things like greeting people and saying \u2018hi\u2019 to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooke added her 9-year-old son had been so moved by the valiant efforts of volunteer firefighters to save Watson, that he had set his sights on joining Fire and Emergency NZ when he is an adult.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was really amazed at the crew that came down,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is something that he wants to do, to help people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I want his life to be remembered well\u2019<\/p>\n Watson loved elderly people, Cooke said.<\/p>\n He would regularly stop when out walking to talk to them. He told Cooke they always had \u201cthe best stories and the best knowledge\u201d.<\/p>\n He hated the thought of old people being alone. It was one of the parts of his personality that warmed Cooke\u2019s heart, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just stops everything to go and help. That was the kind of person he was,\u201d Cooke said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it was holding doors [open] or carrying people\u2019s shopping, he was just always like that.\u201d<\/p>\n On the day he was critically injured, Watson had been helping a man in his 80s build a yard to contain cattle.<\/p>\n After Cooke asked how much the job was worth, Watson decided to take her to the location and meet his customer.<\/p>\n \u201cThis old man struggled to even just walk over to where the cattle yard was,\u201d Cooke recalled.<\/p>\n \u201cKane goes, \u2018Now, how much would you charge that guy?\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no way he could charge the old man anything for his time. He goes, \u2018One day we\u2019re all going to be old and the worst thing I can ever imagine is not being able to do the things that you need to be able to do\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n In his memory, Cooke and her children plan to visit rest homes at Christmas to try and bring some festive spirit to those who might not have families visiting them.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want his life to be remembered well… we don\u2019t want people to be alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t even picture Christmas without him. But we want to do something to be more like him, share his values.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something I really want to drill into my kids. I\u2019ve got all these children and they\u2019re the only things that get me through every single day.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I should be sharing the love of their special little smiles.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know the teen boy who helped Kane Watson at Muriwai Beach? Contact neil.reid@nzme.co.nz<\/p>\nThe last thing Jasmine Cooke told her partner before the tragic sand collapse was that she loved him. <\/p>\n
Jasmine Cooke and partner Kane Watson first met as teens and began dating in their mid-20s. <\/p>\n
A new set of warning signs have been spotted at the site of the Muriwai Beach sand dunes death. Photo \/ Sarah Bristow<\/p>\n
A family trip to Muriwai Beach turned to tragedy. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Kane Watson was killed when a sand dune collapsed on him at Muriwai Beach on Saturday. Photo \/ Givealittle<\/p>\n