This summer Safer Coromandel is spotlighting young people working hard to make the Coromandel a safer place.
This month, say hello to Taimania Hinds!
Taimania grew up on the family farm in Whenuakite, attending MBAS from start to finish. She had easy access to the beaches and native bush, providing endless adventures. The way of rural living always left her wondering: just how many pets is too many?
At just a wee tot of three years old, her mum signed her up to the Hot Water Beach Junior Surf Programme in the summer of 2003/04.
Now, over two decades later Taimania is the Chairperson of Hot Water Beach SLSC, Volunteer Patrol Captain, Senior Lifeguard, IRB driver, Swift Water Rescue Technician, Junior Surf Coach, BP Leaders for Life Candidate, and Coromandel Local Life Saving Committee Member – a list that reflects her huge dedication.
She’s also a Registered Nurse, keeping not just beachgoers safe, but the wider community.
Volunteering alongside her whānau – parents, cousins, her aunty, siblings, and peers who have become whānau – is the highlight of her vast experiences. She has spent many summers calling Hot Water Beach, Hahei and Cathedral Cove her ‘office’, providing water safety at school camps and the iconic MBAS across-the-river swim, IRB racing, and teaching thousands of beachgoers about water safety.
Attending many first-aid incidences – from stubbed toes to fractures to chest pains – fostered the urge to help those in need and grow her medical knowledge.
Being exposed to First Aid courses firstly as a patient when she was too young to participate, and later as a student, set her firmly on the nursing path.
Hot Water Beach being a tourist hot spot attracting a vast number of visitors from all over the world, many lacking water safety knowledge, keeps lifeguards constantly alert.
Beach goers tend to assume the ‘calm spot’ is the best place to swim, even when signs and lifeguards say otherwise. She says this misconception has led to multiple rescues over the years. It is not just water safety that lifeguards worry about, there have been multiple successful searches, specifically for lost children, as well as medical events at the hot pools.
This summer her message is simple: slip, slop, slap, and wrap – and always listen to the lifeguards.
“We aren’t here to ruin your fun,” she laughs.
And to the 18-24s? “Know your limits. If in doubt, don’t go out.”
PROUD TO BE LOCAL — BROUGHT TO YOU BY CFM — IS OUR INSPIRATIONAL FEATURE, HIGHLIGHTING HOME-GROWN COROMANDEL PENINSULA FOLKS DOING WONDERFUL THINGS OUT IN THE WORLD.
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