Teina Wharawhara, a "longtime streetie" who died after an attack in a Grafton park, should have received the help his friends desperately sought, says an advocate for Auckland's homeless.
The middle-aged man was well known among the city's rough sleepers and died at 11.19pm on Tuesday - an hour after a friend of his ran to Auckland City Hospital's emergency department seeking help for him.
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Auckland District Health Board is not investigating its response to the situation, St John Ambulance referred questions to the police, and the police say their response is being looked at as part of the investigation into Mr Wharawhara's death, so they are unable to comment.
The Herald revealed that ADHB staff called police when the friend rushed to the ED, but an ambulance was not called for another 35 minutes.
Mr Wharawhara's friends were forced to carry the dying man 500m from Outhwaite Park to the ED, where he was pronounced dead.
A 47-year-old man was charged with assault and appeared in Auckland District Court on Wednesday.
No plea was entered and a bail hearing is scheduled for December 2.
Lifewise general manager Moira Lawler said the situation should have been treated differently.
"It comes back to who actually cares about these people. It's another example of people being excluded from services that arguably need them the most.
"I think an investigation into what happened is really important.
"We are not interested in pointing the finger to find fault, it's about a system that doesn't fail for people who are really vulnerable."
ADHB, police and St John were all members of the Auckland Homeless Steering Group, a collaboration between 13 government and non-government organisations.
People the Herald spoke to yesterday said Mr Wharawhara's death had shocked the homeless community.
They did not wish to be identified, but said Mr Wharawhara was a "longtime streetie" who was well liked.
Both men "had issues" with alcohol and were believed to have been drinking at the time.
Mrs Lawler said there was nothing unusual about middle-aged men being injured in drunken fights.
"These are middle-aged men who got in a fight and got hurt. What's so unusual about that?
"What's unusual is how the system responded to them because of their housing circumstances."
She said the service and its clients were deeply shocked by the incident, which was the fourth violent death of a homeless man in Auckland since 2013.