Bali bar-fight victim an enterprising man

BY JODY O'CALLAGHAN

Sean Headifen's former principal said he was "very bright" and "had a bright future ahead of him".

The Levin man who died after a bar fight in Bali was a "go-getter" with a mind for business, Waiopehu College principal Barry Petherick says.

Former Linton soldier Sean Headifen, 22, was on holiday with his girlfriend when a fight broke out in a bar they were at on Saturday night.

Family were told a barman hurled a bottle or glass at Mr Headifen's head.

His girlfriend tried unsuccessfully to get him medical attention, because they did not have travel insurance and could not afford an ambulance.

He died later at the couple's accommodation after drifting in and out of consciousness.

New Zealand embassy staff from Jakarta have been sent to Bali to liaise with police and help the family bring Mr Headifen's body home.

Mr Petherick said the school's guidance counsellor was keeping in direct contact with the Headifen family as his sister was a student at the school.

"I know him well, he came right through our school and I actually taught his mother.

"He was very bright, very able and an interesting young man."

Mr Petherick remembered a lawnmowing business he started in Levin when he left school at the end of Year 12.

"You would see him go along the footpath with a lawnmower in front of him ... because he didn't have a car at that point.

"He was a go-getter ... it's a real pity what's happened, knowing that medical treatment could have saved him.

"He will be well remembered at the school just because of the person he had been ... he had a bright future ahead of him."

Mr Headifen said on his Facebook profile that he was a "self-employed, real estate investor specialising in rent-by-the-room management".

"My company has had massive growth from the start of this year.

"I seek to learn as much as I can on this subject."

Mr Petherick said his death came after a "tragic run" of deaths among former Horowhenua students in the same age group.

"We've had a terrible run with kids that age here from Levin ... five or six of them have died overseas."

Among them were a few fatal car crashes in England and America and a railway electrocution in London.

"These are young people going out doing their big OE and ending in a lot of grief for their families."

But Mr Headifen, the youngest of the casualties, was the first to have been the victim of violence, he said.

The New Zealand Army refused to comment on the death or career of the former soldier.

ONLINE TRIBUTES

Sean Headifen's girlfriend has left tributes to him on Bebo, the social networking website.

She had previously written about her love for Mr Headifen before his death.

On Mr Headifen's Bebo page, after his death:

"i promise ill du my best to get u home, ur beautiful, u always have been and in my memory u always will be. u rock my world and i love u wit al my heart."

Mr Headifen's girlfriend's Bebo status update:

"xox RIP SEAN, I LOVE U WIT ALL MY HEART xox."

On her page, before Mr Headifen's death:

"hey babe, been togetha 4 a few months, and u rock my world! u make me so happy and the last week we spent in bali has been soooo fun, wudnt wana spend it with any1 else anyway, i love living wit u, hangin out wit u, and everything bowt u."

- © Fairfax NZ News