Terrible stuff, 1 thing i haven't heard confirmed is if his young bro he went to save is still with us. If Sonny lost his life saving that of his little bro then at least there is some sort of positive in this
Going to be a tough year for the Warriors, I hope they pull together after thinking back to Ben Alexanders passing and what that did to Penrith
Girlfriend saw Sonny Fai swept out to sea
By KIM RUSCOE - Fairfax Media | Monday, 05 January 2009
The girlfriend of missing New Zealand Warriors star Sonny Fai watched as her man was snatched by the sea.
Fai, who was due to start training with the Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium this morning, had gone to Bethell's Beach on Auckland's wild west coast late yesterday afternoon for an extra training run, to burn off some "Christmas excesses".
He then headed into the water off Ihumoana Island about 6pm with girlfriend Jenna Frost and several family members.
His sister, La Lelei, said all but two managed to get out of a rip and back on to the safety of the beach.
"I have a younger brother and a younger cousin that are a bit too weak, they couldn't swim that hard so some of the bigger boys and Sonny jumped in to save them," she said.
"I heard that they were all together, holding hands, but then somehow my younger brother drifted away from them and Sonny went back to get him," she said.
Sonny told his little brother to let go of his hand, then he drifted back to shore and Sonny got stuck in the rip.
"My younger brother came back and Sonny was taken out by the wave."
Ms Frost, Fai's girlfriend, watched from the beach unable to do anything to stop the sea take her man.
"I was angry, I wanted to go in there and get him myself," she said.
Fai was the type of person who also put other people first, Ms Frost said.
"He's a really good guy, he has a good kind heart," she said.
Ms Lelei said the family went out to the beach last night, as soon as they heard what had happened, and stayed about 2am when searchers told them to go home.
They returned at 5am this morning to find his Warriors teammates already scouring the beach.
Sacrificing himself for a loved one. Tragic.
