A "beautiful boy" wandered into a pool in 2023, he died in his mother's arms 12 days later.
Finn Blackwell of RNZ
Now, River Albert-Wihone's family is hoping his story can save lives.
The Coroner's inquest into the toddlers death is underway in Auckland District Court, and has heard emotional statements from his family.
Albert-Wihone was just over a year old when he was found in the pool at his family home and was taken to Starship Children's Hospital, where he later died.
River's parents addressed the Coroner through tears on Monday morning at the beginning of the inquest before Coroner Alison Mills.
A number of family members watched from the back of the courtroom, clad in All Blacks jerseys – River's favourite team.
His father, Matthew, spoke about the immense pain of his loss.
"Losing a child changes you in ways you can't describe," he said.
"I always worried if my kids would be OK if I died, I never once imagined losing one of them."
He described the feeling as numb, while at the same time, the worst pain imaginable.
"The last almost three years have been the hardest of my life, but I stand here today, like you all, in hopes that our experience, our pain and grief, can help make changes so that no other family has to experience it also," Albert-Wihone said.
"That's how we can honour our boy."
'He would be four this year'
River's mother, Lauren, spoke about the things that could have been that they never get to share with their son.
"Him saying I love you for the first time, him meeting his little sisters, his first day of kindy, school, Christmases, his first All Blacks or Warriors game, birthdays," she said.
"He would be four this year, I would give anything in the world for the life we were supposed to have."
Part of the inquest will look at issues with the pool fence and gate at the property.
River's grandmother, Christine Robinson, told the inquest she had raised concerns prior to her grandson's death.
"I first raised concerns to, firstly, the builder, about January, I think it was the 20th of January 2022," she said.
Robinson described it as an intermittent fault in the pool gate, some times closing on the second try, others taking a number of attempts before properly closing.
Her pleas for a fix fell on deaf ears, Robinson said.
"I was frustrated," she said.
"I was hoping that the council could step in and do something, I was frustrated at that stage."
Robinson said she tried to manage the issue by locking the gate and keeping people away from the pool.
The inquest was set to hear from the property's landlord as well as the property manager on Tuesday.
'He's left a big hole'
Speaking to RNZ, Robinson remembered her grandson's "beautiful" hair.
"He loved the All Blacks," she said.
"He was 14 months, but he's left a big hole."
Robinson was hoping for more accountability from landlords, but had been left wondering if she could have done more.
"I thought I did enough to get the gate repaired, I thought managing it, it would be fine," she said.
"I hope from this that there's going to be awareness and then River's going to save many lives."
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