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Sports star feared drowned at Bethells

Skinner

Coach
Messages
13,581
It is strongly rumoured that the missing young man is Sonny Fai.

No other details have been released yet.

From : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10550492


The young man believed drowned at west Auckland's Bethell's Beach last night is an up and coming sports star, Newstalk ZB has reported.

The newsroom has not yet named the 20-year-old man, saying his team-mates were still to be told of his disappearance.

Sources told Newstalk ZB the man had been at Bethell's on a training run.

They said he went into the water to help a family member who had got into difficulty swimming.

He was one of four men believed to have been caught by strong currents after entering the water.

The alarm was raised about 8pm, and two inflatable boats and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter were scrambled. Three men were rescued.

Family members and surf life savers kept searching for the sportsman until 1am and the Eagle helicopter resumed its search later this morning.
 

KiWi_BoI_15

Juniors
Messages
1,320
My mobile was flooded with texts this morning, i had to come online to see if it was really true.

Still cant believe it.
 

Scottey

Juniors
Messages
500
NZ Warrior feared drowned at Bethell's (www.nzherald.co.nz 5/1/09)

The young man believed drowned at west Auckland's Bethell's Beach last night is young New Zealand Warriors star Sonny Fai.
Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah confirmed the 20-year-old is missing after he had been at Bethell's on a training run yesterday.
Sources told Newstalk ZB he went into the water to help a family member who had got into difficulty swimming.
He was one of four men believed to have been caught by strong currents after entering the water.
The alarm was raised about 8pm last night, and two inflatable boats and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter were scrambled. Three men were rescued.
Family members and surf life savers kept searching for the sportsman until 1am and the Eagle helicopter resumed its search later this morning.
Fai has long been touted as the Warriors' next superstar after joining the club as a 14-year-old in 2003.
He made his debut against Parramatta last year and played a total of 15 games, scoring five tries in the process.
The former Junior Kiwi featured mainly in the centres but was regarded as a long-term back-row option after the Warriors fought off interest from rival NRL clubs to sign him until the end of 2010.
Fai also played for the New Zealand Residents in 2005-06 and made the Kiwis train-on squad for last year's World Cup but missed out on final selection.
 

Scottey

Juniors
Messages
500
What a tragedy. Keep refreshing the herald page hoping the headlines dont change to 'confirmed dead'.
 

MKEB...

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
5,982
I keep refreshing the page in hope that it says "Traumatized Warrior Found Alive"
 

Fein

First Grade
Messages
5,249
Terrible news, my sincere condolances to his family and all Warriors supporters.
 

Rich102

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,561
Fingers crossed but it doesn't look good.
Mongrel of a beach for rips.
My thoughts are with his family.
 

ozbash

Referee
Messages
26,922
that stretch of coastline has taken more lives than any other in NZ.

Prick of a place.

He'll be history, feel for his family and the team.
 

AliN

Live Update Team
Messages
3,678
sort of surreal how this could happen to a young and fit athelete.
The West Coast shows no mercy.

Very sad news. And there's gotta be that small glimmer of hope still that the family can hold onto to.

A sad loss for the family, the Warriors and NZ rugby league.
 

JB

Juniors
Messages
863
f**k me. Just terrible, terrible news. Thoughts go out to the family who must be doing it tough atm.
 
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