Frightening yell sets alarm bells ringing
Here’s a look at what’s been happening this week in Waikato community newspapers.
Something was terribly wrong.
That’s what first came to Tokoroa truck blaster and painter John Ford’s mind when he heard his boss urgently yell his name.
Ford had just briefly spoken to a Hamilton colleague who had arrived to deliver a truck at the Surface Coating Limited depot. Moments later he would be helping to save his life.
‘‘I was busy in the workshop painting and he came in and said he’d just dropped a truck off and he was ready to take another back to Hamilton. Normally I go out and talk to him but this time I was a bit busy so I just said ‘no problem’ and he went on his way,’’ he said.
‘‘About half a minute later the boss walked up so I told him he was just out there and he said he’d go see him.’’
That’s when the ‘‘frightening’’ yell came.
‘‘You get a fright when your boss yells like that as you know something is wrong. I freaked out because it was quite a stressful yell and I just dropped what I was doing and shot out to see him.’’
Rounding the corner he saw the truck driver slumped on stairs and turning ‘dark purple’.
‘‘He was actually dead because there was no pulse and he wasn’t breathing,’’ he said.
‘‘I pulled him off the stairs and checked him again but there was still nothing so I just started CPR while the boss rang 111.’’
Ford said he gained a first aid certificate three years ago and although it had lapsed he put what he knew into practice.
‘‘I was just hoping this guy would start breathing as I didn’t know if I was doing it right because when you are doing your training on a mannequin it’s easy, you wait for it to click, but that doesn’t happen on a real life person,’’ he said.
He said around 10 minutes later an ambulance arrived.
‘‘You think s**t, I hope they hurry up because you get puffed out. It is quite a bit of work doing that sort of thing,’’ he said.
‘‘As soon as they got there one of the officers took over from me and they were plugging him up to a defibrillator.’’
‘‘They had to shock him three times before they got a heartbeat and the officers said he was lucky I was first aid trained. Another five minutes and he would have been dead,’’ he said.
Ford said the truck driver was rushed to hospital and was slowly recovering.
He urged people to do first aid training.
‘‘It was quite amazing but freaky. You never know when you might need it.’’
South Waikato News
‘‘It’s happening every time it rains, somebody will go down – guaranteed.’’ Chris Clayton
Slippery footpath
As New Zealand moves into the wetter months, Tuakau town’s main footpath becomes a danger zone for its residents.
After seeing many slip on the wet walkway, Tuakau residents Odessa Black and Chris Clayton have started a petition to find a fix to the problem.
The petition has received hundreds of comments about the slippery conditions.
The pair plan to take the petition, which has garnered over 634 signatures, to the Waikato District Council in hope that some solution can be found.
The two had met one wet night after Clayton had a bad fall.
He was the sign Black was looking for – the last slippery straw.
‘‘I really appreciated hearing Chris the night I came in, because I’ve been wanting to do this for a while,’’ Black said.
‘‘I just needed that extra little boost up and that’s where I got it.’’
Clayton said there were ‘too many people going over’.
‘‘It’s happening every time it rains, somebody will go down – guaranteed.’’
Clayton said the slippery glaze on top of the tiles was what was causing the residents grief, and suggested that the council sandblast a few inches off to create a rougher surface for residents to walk on.
The council said there were a number of high cost options that could give the footpath more grip, such as chemical washing, which had an environmental risk, resurfacing or replacement of all of the cobbles.
But unfortunately council did not have a budget allocated to enable high cost work of this nature to be undertaken.
The council is currently researching cost effective options that they would look to trial in the coming months.
Currently to avoid slipping up, Black said most residents follow the few grey bricks that have slightly more grip than the rest of the footpath. Or they shuffle.
‘‘Everyone follows that grey line,’’ Clayton said.
‘‘Everyone does a shuffle, that’s how everyone walks around here. We look like a bunch of knobs, but it’s the only way to stay upright.’’
Black said the grip on those few grey bricks was what they needed all over the footpath.
‘‘ . . . that’s the kind of grip that we need, it’s only silly that it’s in a line.’’
Franklin County News
Homeless shelter
A homeless shelter for women and children is proposed for Taupo¯ to cope with a chronic accommodation shortage.
With reports of more and more people becoming homeless, a new team has arrived to replicate a shelter they have set up in Rotorua.
Tiny and Lynley Deane are the founders of Visions of a Helping Hand Charitable Trust in Rotorua.
They and their team have already had success with a drop-in centre and women’s shelter in Rotorua and now there are plans to bring the same thing to Taupo¯ .
Deane wants to let the Taupo community know all about the trust and homelessness to garner support for the new venture. He is holding a public meeting next Wednesday to gauge interest.
‘‘We want to let them know who we are and to give them an awareness on homelessness,’’ Tiny Deane said.
The plans for Taupo includes a 12-room women’s and children’s shelter, drop-in centre and a second-hand goods store.
Deane was unsure of the exact number of homeless in Taupo¯ but was certain they would fill a 12-room facility comfortably.
‘‘Homelessness affects people from all walks of life,’’ he said.
‘‘They could be living in a garage or a friend’s couch or car.’’
Following the success of the shelter in Rotorua, Deane has been made aware of similar situations of homelessness in Taupo.
‘‘There have been five different examples brought to my attention,’’ he said.
‘‘A number of people have contacted us, asking if we can help.’’
And that’s what the team intends to do.
Visions of a Helping Hand has been running in Rotorua for the past eight months. They have around-the clock security, they give out breakfast and lunches. There is a gym, te reo classes, nurse visits and haircuts, and other services.
Deane is planning on running the Taupo¯ shelter the same way but with dinners added in as well.
Taupo¯ Mayor, David Trewavas, said he had been talking to Deane and understood the shelter had been successful in Rotorua.
He said the council would happily support anyone that was happy to support the community in such a way.
‘‘We encourage anyone that can help,’’ he said. ‘‘If someone’s prepared to stand up and do it, we really appreciate it.’’
Deane hopes some of those at the meeting would be willing to help out as he needs volunteers and sponsors to help with the venture.
The public meeting will be held on March 14 at the Great Lake Centre from 6.30pm.