A teenager from New Zealand tragically died in his sleep during a family vacation in Rarotonga, leaving his family heartbroken and seeking support for repatriation costs.

A New Zealand family trip to Rarotonga took a heartbreaking turn last week when their 15-year-old son died unexpectedly in his sleep.

Mary Kerehoma, the mother of the deceased Drazei Kerehoma, is still reeling from shock as she prepares to repatriate her son’s body back to Hastings this Friday.

Mary and her new husband, Todd Bonner, who were married in Rarotonga in May last year, arrived on the island on April 24 for a three-week family vacation with Drazei and his two nephews.

“He was excited for the nephews … he was happy running around, playing and it was not any different from any other day. He was doing the same activities, the same stuff as he did last year, swimming, kayaking, snorkelling, running around. Even more when he had his nephews because the three of them are like brothers, there’s not much age gap between them,” an emotional Mary recounted.

“There were no complaints about anything, any pain or anything until that last day.”

On Wednesday night, Drazei developed a cough. The next day, Thursday, the family purchased a cough mixture from a local pharmacy “that stopped his coughing”.

Mary said they also gave him a ginger drink – a natural remedy they resort to when someone in the family develops a cough – and Panadol every four hours.

“No sore throat, never complained of a headache, so we thought maybe just a viral thing. And then, you know, we started thinking, oh, mosquito bites, maybe, we didn’t know.”

Mary put Drazei to bed that evening and dozed off herself. A couple of hours later at around 10pm, she woke to find her son unresponsive.

Bonner recounted rushing into Drazei’s room after hearing Mary scream.

“She just woke up screaming because she couldn’t move him, he wouldn’t move, and I came running in, and I started giving him CPR, and then I was like, I’ve got to ring the ambulance. I bolted out to the office to ring the ambulance and I came back in and just carried on (with CPR). It would have been about 15 to 20 minutes in total,” he said.

The paramedics attempted to revive him and worked hard “for nearly half an hour” before declaring him deceased.

“When they got there, we didn’t tell them that he was unresponsive, because Mary didn’t think anything of that sort, she thought that he might have just passed out,” Bonner said.

Mary said they were slowly coming to terms with the loss but still in shock.

“There was no medical history, he was a healthy boy, he was a good eater and sporty. He had his vaccinations, and maybe that could have been a part of it, why he got blood clots. Who knows? This is just unexplainable. Just not knowing what really caused those blood clots to start in the first place.”

Overwhelmed by grief, Mary admitted she initially felt a sense of anger towards Rarotonga, associating it with the loss of her son.

“The first day, I hated this place. I was never coming back. But once I was told what was going on with my baby, it just reassured me that he was sick before we got here. And there was nothing we could do. Sick in the respect that he was sick, but neither us nor he knew that he was sick.

“You could not tell that he was at all. He never said the whole time, like coming up on the trip, oh, I don’t feel well, I’m not hungry. He was just his normal self.”

Mary is thankful for all the support she and her family has been getting from Rarotonga and New Zealand.

In a Facebook post, she said: “I would like to share this post as an acknowledgement to the beautiful people in Rarotonga, who have shared their love and support for the sudden loss of our boy on the 2^nd of May. Please know from us you are so appreciated, meitaki maata.”

“A special meitaki to our funeral director Leelash Chandar for his amazing preparation of our boy. And for his reassurance that our boy was in no pain and died peacefully in his sleep.”

Mary said they are now focusing on getting Drazei back to New Zealand for his final journey.

The cost of repatriating Drazei’s body is proving a significant burden for the family. To help cover these expenses, they have set up a Givealittle page. Anyone wishing to support the family can contact Mary on 0225603778.

Cook Islands News contacted New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tui Dewes on Monday for comment on whether they have reached out to the grieving family.

In a statement on Tuesday, Dewes said: "The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and our High Commission, are aware of the death of a New Zealander in the Cook Islands, and consular assistance has been offered to the family."

"We extend our heartfelt condolences to the family at this difficult time. For privacy reasons, no further information will be provided."