New Zealand fisherman stumbles across toddler in the sea

A New Zealand fisherman has described the moment he stumbled across an 18-month-old boy floating alone in the sea.

Keen angler Gus Hutt was setting up for a morning’s fishing at Matata Beach on the North Island late last month when he spotted what he initially thought was a doll in the water and moved closer to investigate.

“As he floated past I thought he was just a doll,” Hutt told the Whakatane Beacon. “So, I reached out and grabbed him by the arm; even then I still thought it was just a doll.

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“His face looked like porcelain with his short hair wetted down, but then he let out a little squeak and I thought, ‘oh God, this is a baby and it’s alive’”.

The child was 18-month-old Malachi Reeve, who had managed to unzip the door of his family’s tent and wander onto the beach while his parents slept.

Hutt’s wife Sue raced to let camp to let staff know that a child had been pulled from the water.

Malachi’s mother, Jessica Whyte, recalled the moment she and her partner were awoken by the camp manager.

“She was like ‘do you guys have a young child?’ Then she said he's been found in the water,” Whyte told Stuff.nz.

“I don't think my heart [beat] from hearing that to seeing him. I don't think my heart worked,” she said.

Hutt says the timing of the incredible rescue was even more improbable because his usual fishing spot is further down the beach, where he would not have seen Malachi in the water.

“If I hadn’t been there, or if I had just been a minute later I wouldn't have seen him,” he said.

“He was bloody lucky, but he just wasn't meant to go; it wasn't his time.”

Malachi was taken to hospital as a precaution, but found to be unharmed by his nerve-wracking adventure.

Hutt said that when he was reunited with Malachi after the family stopped by to offer their thanks on their way home.

Meanwhile, Whyte said she is still shaken from the near-miss, and warned other parents to take extra precautions when camping with small children.

“Zip your tents up. And zip them up nice and high if you've got a child that can reach. Put them on a padlock,” she said.