John MacKenzie with a mountain of legal papers about his son, Kenneth MacKenzie, whose heart was taken without his family's consent. Photo/John Borren
A Tauranga man is vowing to fight on despite his application seeking leave for the Court of Appeal to hear his claim for damages after his son's heart was "taken without consent" was rejected.
John MacKenzie, 80, alleges his 20-year-old son Kenneth's heart was unlawfully removed after his life support was turned off in Tauranga Hospital on October 2, 1987 - the day after he suffered serious head injuries in a motorcycle accident.
A doctor asked for consent to take his son's heart, but the family refused, he said. In March 2005, the National Transplant Donor Co-ordination Office informed Mr MacKenzie that his son's aortic valve was removed and transplanted into a 16-year-old girl's body.
A legal suit filed last year against the Crown Law Office was struck out because it was statute barred, despite Associate Judge Roger Bell finding he had "an arguable case".
Last month Mr MacKenzie sought a judicial review but High Court Justice Pamela Andrews dismissed his appeal against Associate Judge Bell's ruling.
Mr MacKenzie then sought leave from Justice Andrews to appeal her judgement to the Court of Appeal, which has also been rejected.
In her September 14 written ruling Justice Andrew said: "In respect of matters raised by Mr MacKenzie, both the judgement of Associate Judge Bell and my own judgement involved the application of well-established law, in an orthodox manner.
"While I accept without question that Mr MacKenzie has very real and sincere concerns as to what happened concerning Kenneth's body, I am not persuaded that that aspect outweighs the costs and delay of a further appeal," she wrote.
Mr MacKenzie said he was gutted but this was not the end of the matter, and he would apply directly to the Court of Appeal for "special leave" for a full rehearing.
Mr MacKenzie said he wanted three things from his legal suit.
"Firstly a formal apology from the Minister of Justice or Attorney General, an admission of liability from Crown Law plus a settlement of at least $200,000 to compensate me for all the unnecessary grief on grief I have suffered and the massive costs I have incurred in fighting this case. It has all been self-represented because they denied me legal aid," he said.
Mr MacKenzie said he was considering filing a petition with parliament seeking to statutorily disestablish the Crown Law Office.
Timeline October 2, 1987: Kenneth MacKenzie's life support turned off. March 21, 2005: His father, John MacKenzie, is informed his son's heart was removed and transplanted into a 16-year-old. November 24, 2006: Damages sought from the now disestablished Crown Health Financial Agency. Claim denied. November 23 , 2012: Mr MacKenzie lodges a formal statement of claim against the agency but is repeatedly denied legal aid. January 31, 2013: Attorney-General files application to strike-out statement of claim. February 17, 2015: Associate High Court Judge Roger Bell strikes out Mr MacKenzie's claim. July 31, 2015: High Court Justice Pamela Andrews hears a judicial review application which she dismissed.