Mum's poolside terror I SAW MY SON FLOATING LIFELESS

A water warning to all carers

- Lynley Ward

It was a family excursion the Lake whanau had been looking forward to – a fun sun-filled holiday at Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Little water-loving Harley, five, was in his element, watching the older children dive into the pool and getting as close to the action as possible.

While the teens playfully raced each other and adults enjoyed a refreshing dip, his mum Makaila turned away to feed her three-month-old baby Stevie-Mae.

But even though he was surrounded by capable swimmers, Makaila tells Woman’s Day this wasn’t enough to stop her over-confident boy disappearing under the water, almost becoming another victim of this year’s tragic Christmas holiday drowning toll that claimed six lives.

It’s a nightmare the Wellsford mum is coming to terms with, still traumatised by the dreadful moment she plucked her near lifeless son out of the water, fearing the worst.

“He doesn’t remember it,” says the shaken mum-of-two. “I will never forget it. The scariest thing was feeling his little cold body. He felt dead.”

Makaila, 29, can’t believe how close she came to losing her treasured eldest child in late December, the frightening episode silently unfolding in seconds.

She recalls, “All morning I had been saying to the others, ‘Keep an eye on Harley. He’s super-confident around water.’ I had to feed my baby and I said to my sister, ‘I need to feed Stevie.’