Ambulance officer ‘‘invaluable’’
An ‘‘absolutely invaluable’’ ambulance officer and firefighter is the second victim to be named after a head-on collision near Cambridge recently.
Susan Cutler was driving the ambulance when it and another vehicle collided on State Highway 1 near Cambridge about 3.45am on September 14.
The driver of the Audi, Aucklander Deon Hadley, 33, died at the scene two years after losing his mother in a brutal killing.
A registered nurse travelling in the ambulance was taken to hospital in a stable condition. There were no other passengers.
Cutler was critically injured and was flown to Waikato Hospital where she died that afternoon with family by her side.
She had been a member of St Johns for more than 50 years and was also a member of Lake Tarawera Rural Volunteer Fire Brigade.
The Lake Tarawera brigade took to social media to pay tribute to the ‘‘absolutely invaluable’’ member of their team.
‘‘We are all in shock,’’ their post said.
‘‘Susan was always readily available and willing to do whatever was needed to keep our station operational, engines filled, clean and tidy.
‘‘Susan will be missed by our brigade, and by our larger community.’’
St John was also grieving the loss of the patient-transfer officer, who became a member of the Order of St John in 2004, deputy chief executive, ambulance operations, Dan Ohs said.
‘‘While their primary role was within the patient-transfer service, they were also active in their support of both event health services and emergency ambulance.’’
Cutler was one of a very small number to lose their life in the line of duty in New Zealand in the last 80 years, Ohs said. Their family had asked for privacy.
The circumstances of the crash are under investigation.