30 Jan 2015

I would have dived in - retiree rescuer

7:44 pm on 30 January 2015

] A man who drove his farmbike into the sea to rescue a mother and her son from drowning in Hawke's Bay says the the woman was exhausted.

The ten-year-old boy got into trouble while swimming at Mangakuri Beach yesterday.

Ian Waterson, who is retired, said he spotted the woman trying to save the boy from his beachfront home in Havelock North.

He immediately set out to help.

"As I got the bike into the water I could see that it was a combination of her lying on her back with her arms going and the waves that brought her in.

"But unfortunately of course each time a wave went over, because she was so exhausted she was taking water in."

Mr Waterson said the mother and son were taken to hospital for further treatment.