A husband has described his late wife as "the most generous person you could ever meet" after she was found dead in a tanning salon.
Piata Tauwhare's body was discovered at the Lextan tanning salon near her home in Swansea on Saturday, May 28 after she attended an 11-minute tanning session. It is believed the 30-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest only minutes after getting out of the tanning bed.
The mental health support worker was found by her mother-in-law after she didn't hear a word from her for an hour, discovering her dead on the floor of the tanning room she was using. Piata's husband, Ifan Jones, said his wife was "the most generous person you could ever meet".
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He told the Liverpool Echo : "Not one person could ever say a bad word about her and she would bend over backwards for anybody, friends, family, or strangers. It's hard.
"She helped me with everything. I suffer from anxiety and stuff like that and literally anything, she would do anything for me. Every single one of my friends and family got on with her straight away. Everyone loved her. If I was ever seen without her everyone would ask how she was."
Ifan, who lived together with Piata in Swansea, added that he believes she could have been saved if she was found earlier, claiming that the tanning salon staff should have checked up on her. "She had something similar to a cardiac arrest in the tanning salon, Lextan," he added.
"She went in there at 1.50pm for an 11-minute session. She wasn't answering her phone so my mum and I both nipped out of work to see if everything was okay. We found her lying in a room deceased.
"The staff members hadn't checked on her. She must have had a funny turn and passed away. From what I've been told the longest you can be in there is 20 minutes but she was only booked in for 11 minutes.
"Normally they come and check on you five minutes after the session so they can clean the bed for the next customer. They didn't even check if she was in there or not. It was my mum who found her.
"I asked her to have a look so the staff took her to an empty room and there was no phone. Then, as my mum was leaving they realised she was in another room and the door was locked. My mum looked under the door and saw her feet. They then went to find the key and when we finally got in she was dead."
A GoFundMe has now been set up by Ifan to help raise money for Piata's body to be transported for a traditional burial in her native country of New Zealand. "We want to get her back to New Zealand to be with her friends and family and have a traditional funeral," he said.
"I also want to go there and be with her to see her finally put to rest. There will be a ceremony here with my friends and family showing their respects but then we will then fly her out to New Zealand to do it properly."
A Lextan spokesperson said: "We can sadly confirm that a customer died while at our Fforestfach salon on Saturday, May 28. We give our condolences to the deceased’s family and friends, and we have also offered counselling to any affected staff. We are cooperating with the investigation into this case by South Wales Police and any further enquiries should be made to them at this time."
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