Joint funeral for couple who died in ram attack
A funeral was held yesterday for the victims of a rogue ram attack, with family calling the incident a tragic accident.
On Thursday last week, Helge, 81, and Gaye Hansen, 82, were found laying dead on their rented farm property in West Auckland.
An aggressive ram had killed Helge first, and then Gaye when she went to check on him, family believe.
A funeral service for the couple was held yesterday at the Kumeu Showgrounds.
The funeral notice described Helge Hansen as a “dearly loved” father of two, grandfather of five and great-grandfather of three.
Helge and Gaye had recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
Jan Hansen – Helge’s ex-wife who was close to both him and Gaye – said she believed Helge had gone out to feed the animals, while Gaye cooked dinner, their normal routine.
When he didn’t come back, Gaye went to investigate, she believes.
“That ram must have been waiting for her to come through the gate, I reckon. Don’t think that animals can’t think.
“A male animal in mating season can be quite vicious.”
Hansen said: “I’ve never faced so much disaster in one short spat of time. It’s appalling that two people can lose their lives like that.
“The ram must have come from nowhere to get him like that. You can never trust a ram.”
She said the ram wasn’t a stranger to the property – it had lived there for some time.
“They died together, so they should [be farewelled] together.”
Helge and Jan Hansen’s son, Antony – a photographer who lives in the United Arab
Emirates – said his sister Leanne arrived at their father’s property around the same time as police.
He received a call around midnight (UAE time) from his sister, saying their dad and Gaye were dead.
“It’s frickin full-on for both of them to get
taken out ... under such weird, crazy circumstances,” he said.
“You know the reality of ageing parents, but you don’t expect anything so radical.”
Antony said his father, of Danish descent, used to run a sheep farm at Port Waikato, and knew what he was doing.
“He’s an experienced sheep farmer. He knows the potential outcome with rams, as far as being pretty stroppy.
“It [must have] caught him off guard, or he wouldn’t be in a paddock with one, because he’s always been really cautious around rams.”