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Anisa Ghanizada and her husband Noorullah Habibi were almost inseparable during their tragically short married life.
On Tuesday, Noorullah, a student at the University of Auckland, had to prepare for a mid-semester exam and was unable to join Anisa and the rest of her family for a field trip to West Auckland beach.
“She kept saying ‘you should go, I can’t have so much fun when you’re [not] with me, ‘”Noorullah recalled Friday. “I told him, ‘You better go out instead of staying home, I’ll be busy working.’
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Anisa Ghanizada, with her husband Noorullah Habibi, had aspirations to become a makeup artist.
A few hours later, “strong and good-hearted” Anisa is believed to have been dragged off the rocks at Whites Beach, north of Piha, and despite the efforts of the lifeguards who pulled her out of the water, she could not be revived. , a tragedy that has left Noorullah inconsolable and the Afghan community in New Zealand in mourning.
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Anisa came from landlocked Afghanistan in January after Noorullah got her a visa. They had been engaged for a few years and plans for a large traditional wedding were cut short by the worsening Covid-19 pandemic, so they opted for a small ceremony instead.
Askar, Noorullah’s father, who worked as an interpreter for the New Zealand Defense Forces in Bamiyan province, mother Soghra and one of her two younger brothers made the trip to North Piha Beach, where they enjoyed a picnic lunch.
Askar says that he and a friend had been babysitting the young children in the group while the women sat by a hallway chatting.
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Anisa Ghanizada, photographed on top of Skytower, had moved to Auckland from Afghanistan in January.
Anisa decided to go for a walk and took the track past the Te Waha Point lookout towards Whites Beach.
About 15 minutes later, she called Soghra to tell her that she had found a good spot and suggested that the other women join her.
By the time the women reached the top of the hill, they saw Anisa’s body in the water.
When they rushed down to try to save her, other bathers and lifeguards were pulling her out of the water, Askar said.
Police received a call around 3:15 pm to say that a person had fallen into the water.
“Emergency services came to the scene and the person was recovered from the water by surf lifeguards.
“Unfortunately, attempts to revive the person were unsuccessful and he died at the scene.”
Askar Habibi said they were told Anisa was on a rock near the water when a wave hit her and washed her into the ocean.
His death has been referred to the coroner.
Anisa’s death was one of six major incidents the Surf Life Saving North Region attended this week on the beaches of West Auckland. Six people were saved and two died.
On Friday, a family of three was washed into the sea in O’Neill Bay, north of Te Henga Beach (Bethells).
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Surf lifeguards treat a family of three in O’Neill Bay, West Auckland, who had been washed out to sea on Friday.
When the lifeguards arrived, the 45-year-old woman, a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy were back on the shore, the woman and child were losing consciousness.
First responders gave them oxygen and provided first aid until the Westpac rescue helicopter arrived and took the woman to hospital. The boy had improved enough to be taken back to the Bethells surf club for St. John’s paramedics to treat him.
After the busiest winter in recent memory, surf lifeguards have begged bathers to be careful on Auckland’s unpredictable west coast.
His death has deeply affected the close-knit Afghan community in New Zealand, many of whom are former Hazara NZDF interpreters and their families.
“We cannot transfer our feelings by saying the words. We can’t, we can’t, ”said his father-in-law Askar Habibi.
“Everyone is still in shock. We couldn’t sleep the first night, last night. We have been in this situation for three nights ”.
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Noorullah Habibi paid tribute to his wife Anisa, “strong and good-hearted”.
Anisa was buried at Manukau Memorial Gardens on Thursday.
“I buried her myself,” Noorullah said. “I am still in a state of shock. It is very difficult. I go to my room and I can’t see her, her place is empty.
“She loved me so much that all she needed was me. She kept saying ‘I don’t need anything in this world when you’re with me.’
Anisa had been taking English through a specialist refugee class at Selwyn College and hoped to become a makeup artist.
“I was going to her English classes hoping, with one goal, I wanted to learn English as quickly as possible and get a makeup artist degree and start working in that field,” she said. “His life was too short.”
Phil Doyle / Stuff
Askar Habibi and his wife Soghra Karimi with their children Noorullah (left), Farhad (back) and Farzod (front), shortly after arriving in New Zealand in 2013 (File photo).
Noorullah had launched into academic study since she reached the age of 15 with only a basic knowledge of English. After becoming a student leader at Palmerston North Freyberg High School, he enthusiastically pursued a medical career and is in his second year of a bachelor of science major in physiology.
“But now, all of that is gone. I can’t study, I can’t concentrate. Who am I going to make a future for? She was all he had. ”
Askar worked as an interpreter for the NZDF Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan for several years.
He became “eyes and ears” for Kiwi soldiers, attending meetings with local leaders and liaising with community members who had links to insurgents, work that put his family in danger.
The family resettled in New Zealand in 2013, and the same year Askar received the New Zealand Operational Service Medal and the New Zealand Afghanistan General Service Medal.
