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KAI SCHWOERER/Stuff
Police were notified of a rescue attempt in Lyttelton on Sunday.
The person who died while paddling a waka in Lyttelton has been named as a “founding member” of the local waka ama club and a “remarkable” woman.
Read this story in te reo Māori and English here. / Pānuitia tēnei i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā ki konei.
The person was Maria Grace Hema, 47, whom whānau and Te Waka Pounamu Outrigger Canoe Club paid tribute to late Sunday following her sudden death that morning in Christchurch.
Club president Craig Pauling said the news was a “great sadness”.
“Maria and her whānau are a significant part of our club and community, and this has come as an incredible shock to us all,” Pauling said.
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A tribute to her “dear sister” was made online by Ata Webster. The testimonial said Hema was a wife, mother, sister and aunty to more than 11 nieces and nephews.
“Maria embraced life with an incredible zest, radiating happiness and putting her best into everything she did,” Webster said.
“She is Whaea Maria to her tauira, and friend and colleague to many.”
Eruera Tarena, spokesperson for the Hema, Turia, and Crump whānau, said Hema gave a “life of service” to her Māori community and whānau.
“She passed doing what she loved, training with her waka ama team, surrounded by her loving whānau, friends and teammates,” Tarena said.
Webster said words could not express the grief that the family was struggling with following the sudden death and thanked the community for “love, compassion, and understanding during this profoundly difficult time”.
Pauling said the club was supporting the whānau at this time.
A service is expected to be Friday morning, Tarena said.
A police spokesperson said Hema suffered a medical event. Fellow paddlers are believed to have tried to revive her at the Christchurch port town but were unsuccessful.
Lyttelton’s Naval Point Club has been temporarily closed out of respect to whānau, commodore Willie Newman said.
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