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He was brought to Waitangi Wharf but died a short time later at the Chatham Islands Health Centre.
Kahukore-Dixon’s father, Jacky Dixon, said Things he had limited information about what happened to his son, but was told that he had been killed by a great white shark.
“I couldn’t believe it. I kept imagining him when he was little. I won’t have my son,” he said through tears.
Dixon said his son was a “very tough, young guy” who “loved fishing and diving” from a young age.
“He would do anything to protect his family. He was an amazing boy, a much-loved family member.”
Kahukore-Dixon was a commercial diver who lived in the Chatham Islands and caught paua and kina.
He would often see great white sharks, his father said, but he was not afraid of them.
“He thought he was one with the ocean,” he said.
Dixon, who lives in Hawke’s Bay, said if his son saw a shark while diving, he would hold his breath and hide behind rocks on the ocean floor.
“Then he would try to sneak back to the ship before the sharks saw him. He would do it every time,” he said.
About four years ago, Kahukore-Dixon had a near miss.
“His friend was timing him and thought ‘no, he’s been there too long,'” Dixon said.
“His mate jumped in, swam down and Jade’s leg got stuck under a rock.
“He couldn’t get out, and his friend freed his leg, picked him up and saved his life.”
Kahukore-Dixon was the sole director and shareholder of the newly formed company Nomad Diving Limited, which was incorporated in June.
In 2018 he was listed as one of the outstanding young players in the Chatham Islands rugby team which played various South Island clubs on tours.
He attended Hastings Boy High School and represented the school in a regional chess tournament. He and his brother Cayne were raised by their Koru and “nanny” Wayne and Donna Dixon.
Dixon said his son “wasn’t afraid of anything.”
“When he was playing rugby when he was young, the whole touchline would be shouting help Jade, somebody help Jade because he’d be in the middle of a whole crowd fighting for that ball and he’d get that ball out of that scrum by himself and run.”
Chatham Islands Mayor Monique Croon said earlier Things she knew Kahukore-Dixon.
“He’s a local guy. He’s well-known, well-liked and this is going to be pretty devastating for our commercial divers. That’s the biggest risk – the biggest fear,” Croon said.
“The community will be in total shock.”
A shark researcher who survived a great white shark attack while freediving near the Chatham Islands said Things the death was “incredibly tragic and incredibly sad.”
Kina Scollay said shark attacks in the waters surrounding the islands are rare.
He said there has been a long history of shark sightings in the area since the cod fishing boom of the last century.
The death is the second tragedy in the small island community this month after well-known farmer and Kaumātua George Te Nera Goomes, 70, died in a motorcycle accident.
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