Unicycling adventurer was ‘perfect father’
needs to be done. But there’s never a joyful response!’’
Moaveni is adamant they don’t hurt and describes them as an incredible, cheap and effective tool.
‘‘There aren’t many medicines or drugs that manage to fit those categories, and patients go home with a great story to tell!’’
He is full of admiration for the Luptons. ‘‘Recently we had a patient who was coming in with multiple finger amputations and my first thought was, ‘ring the ward to make sure we have a good supply of leeches’. I take my hat off to them.’’
Back in the Waikato, Maria has a view of the leech shed across the paddock from her kitchen table.
‘‘I am known as ‘the leech lady’. If I go to a party it is a conversation-stopper. I get everything from hysterical laughter to complete silence.’’
The work is so rewarding the Luptons take leeches even on their rare weekends away.
‘‘We dispatch them from wherever we are staying. If someone has an ear or a lip they need sewn back on I can’t say ‘tough luck I’m not sending any leeches’.
‘‘This is their future quality of life and that’s what drives me back to that shed day after day. I think they are beautiful.’’ A unicyclist who died after colliding with a truck was a ‘‘perfect dad’’ who had cycled around the world, his grieving partner says.
Bruce Hall, 53, hugged his partner LindsayWuand their young son before heading off on his morning ride in the Auckland suburb of Onehunga.
‘‘He left this morning perfectly happy,’’ Wusaid last night.
Hall was an experienced rider – he and his unicycle had clocked up thousands of kilometres around the world, and were planning to tour the South Island in November.
Wudescribed Hall as ‘‘a perfect dad’’ to their seven-yearold boy and the love of her life. The pair met in 2005, at aMt Albert College cooking night class. They lived in Onehunga: raising chickens and enjoying long walks together. Hall also had a daughter from a previous relationship, and worked for an Auckland rental company.
He was passionate about unicycling because it was ‘‘different and took real skill’’, said Wu.
During his 15-year career, he had travelled the world, including tours of Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Nepal.
‘‘Bruce was an adventurer,’’ said Wu. ‘‘But he was a very careful person, always reminding me to be safe. I don’t know how I’ll live without him.
‘‘Before he rode off, our son said ‘can I have a hug, Dad?’ Then I asked for mine, he hugged me too, and walked out the door with a smile.’’
The accident happened just before 9.30am on bustling Onehunga Mall, and Hall died at the scene. The Serious Crash Unit is investigating the accident.
Hall’s friend and fellow unicyclist Ken Looi remembered him as ‘‘determined to ride everything’’.
Looi’s most striking memory was of escourting Hall, stricken with altitude sickness, down a Nepalese mountain in the middle of a snowstorm with sherpas. ‘‘Bruce was up and smiling the next day,’’ he said.