Sister to name baby after Sonny Fai

BY LEE UMBERS

Sonny Fai's name will live on. Sister Lalelei Fai is due to give birth to a son on January 4 – one year to the day that the Warriors hero was swept out to sea in heavy surf at west Auckland's Bethells Beach.

Lalelei will name her boy Sonny. "I just wanted to keep my brother's name alive," Lalelei told Sunday News.

"And hopefully my son will turn out to be everything like my brother ... his attitude, the way he was, doing so much for people, and what he achieved."

An NRL second-row sensation at 20, Sonny was on the verge of superstardom when he perished after saving his younger brother Gillesbie and four cousins from Bethells' treacherous rips. Lalelei, 30, said whatever sport her new son chose, she would support him – but "fingers crossed" he would be a league player.

Sonny's confidante when he was growing up, Lalelei said she was shocked when the doctor who did her four-month scan told her the due birth date was January 4.

"I thought, `Is this coincidence, is it fate?' Then two months later I had to go back for another scan and I found out it was a boy. I thought, hooray I've got a boy and I can name him Sonny."

Lalelei and husband Tupulua, 37, who has a lawnmowing business, have a 10-year-old daughter, and sons aged nine, five, four and two. "They were all brought up with Sonny around," she said.

"If you ask my boys, they still think he's gone for a swim. Every time we're about to go to Bethells, they're like, `We're at Sonny's beach, let's go see where Sonny is'."

Sonny's stunning act of selflessness was noted by Chief Coroner Judge Neil McLean in his August confirmation that Sonny had drowned.

"It seems clear that to some extent the fact that he perished may have been due to the fact that he put the interests of his brother before himself and the happy outcome of that is that all the others who got into difficulty survived," the coroner said.

When the family members were caught in a rip during an outing at Bethells, Sonny – who was armed with a life-saving flotation aid – gave the floatie to his cousins, allowing them to paddle back to shore.

He then swam after Gillesbie, 13, and helped him to safety before being taken by a wave himself.

The coroner's finding paved the way for Sonny's greatest wish – a home for his family – by allowing an NRL insurance payout of AUS$289,250 (about NZ$369,000) to be paid into the Sonny Fai Trust.

The policy was for AUS$500,000, but was subject to tax – something Lalelei said initially shocked the family.

"Everyone thinks we got the whole amount," she said.

But the family was truly grateful for the payout, which – together with about $50,000 donated to the trust by charities, wellwishers, and the sale of memorial wristbands – is enough for Sonny's mum Tausili, 55, and dad Falelua, 59, who is recovering from a stroke, to get their home. They currently live in a Housing New Zealand property.

The couple, who emigrated from Samoa in the early '70s, have seven children.

They're house-hunting in their south Auckland suburb of Mangere – "nothing too fancy, four bedrooms, and Gillesbie wants a sleep-out", said Lalelei who will also live in the new home with her family.

They hoped to find one in the few weeks.

"It'll be a good Christmas present, and Sonny would be happy and proud, because it's something he always wanted," Lalelei said.

"It feels like he's still here because everything's turning out good for our family and it feels like it's his doing."

Rugby League Players Association chief executive David Garnsey said it was "terrific" that the insurance payout would benefit the Fais. "Out of tragedy, at least some good has come," he said.

HE'S STILL THE ONE, SAYS GIRLFRIEND

Hero Sonny Fai's girlfriend of four years, beauty queen finalist Jenna Frost, says it will be hard to ever find a partner who can compare with him.

Sonny's family have given her their blessing to find another boyfriend. But the 2007 Miss Samoa runner-up is not ready.

"There's only one Sonny and I don't think anyone will be able to measure up to him," Jenna, 21, told Sunday News.

He not only had an impressive physique and pin-up looks but, "he was real loving and caring, he did everything for everyone".

"I think I'm going to do a lot of comparing. It's going to be hard for me just to meet someone," Jenna said.

It was love at first sight when she and Sonny met at a high school stage competition. Jenna was attracted to "his big smile".

They had discussed marriage.

Jenna, at Bethells Beach when Sonny was lost, had grief counselling after the tragedy but it was some time before she could face work as a retail assistant.

"Everywhere I'd go, everyone's like, `Oh I know, you're Sonny Fai's girlfriend', and I just couldn't deal with that," Jenna said.

Jenna draws strength from Sonny's family.

"I know they're always there."

- © Fairfax NZ News