Oamaru whitebaiter and father of a 2-year-old boy dies

The dying Oamaru Craig Andrew died after being washed into the sea by the mouth of the Waitaki River last month.

Andrew, who is survived by a 2-year-old daughter, was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital in critical condition on Thursday, October 22.

Police confirmed this morning that Andrew had since died.

A tribute to Andrew was posted on social media on Friday of last week. Police did not confirm when Andrew died.

The 40-year-old man suffered a heart attack mid-flight on the way to Dunedin hospital and at the time his stepfather, Bruce Cawley, described his condition as “50:50.”

Andrew was swept 3 km out to sea by the north side of the Waitaki River mouth.

Emergency services were alerted to the accident by a dying man on the south side.

Waitaki River was Andrew’s favorite place.

Cawley described her stepson as a down-to-earth man and said her 2-year-old daughter was the “spark of her life.”

The incident comes after a whitehead in the same area survived after being washed into the sea three weeks earlier.

The man was wearing a life jacket and returned to shore without assistance.