MOTHER LOSES LIFE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 38, 14 February 1945, Page 3

MOTHER LOSES LIFE

AFTER DAUGHTER'S RESCUE

KAITAIA RIVER PATALITi O.C. KAITAIA, this day. Asphyxiation following a fainting turn while assisting her small daughter from the Kaitaia River was found by the coroner to be the cause of the death Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, wife of Mr. Alfred Thompson. The evidence s*howed that one Thompson child swam across the river while another non-swimmer paddled across the deep part. On re-crossing the child was carried away by the current. Mrs. Thompson swam after her, got her on her back and both were swept downstream on the current. An elderly woman, Mrs. Taaffe, who was on the bank took the child from the back of Mrs. Thompson, who meanwhile, floated downstream face downwards. Normally knee-deep, the swimming pool was much deeper on January 26, after rain. A doctor expressed the opinion that Mrs. Thompson suffered a fainting turn while in the water, and while floating on her face had been asphyxiated. The coroner commended • Mrs. Taaffe for her prompt and coolheaded action which was instrumental in preventing a double tragedy, and Mr. G. Bell for prompt assistance. He also extended sympathy to the bereaved husband and young family of four.