A Greerton man, who could not swim, did not think twice when he tied a rope around his waist and plunged into the pitch black, icy water to try and save a drowning man.
Kiha Rolleston, 31, was on his way home from work last Monday night when traffic ground to a halt on the Maungatapu Bridge.
He and his mate leapt out of their car and started towards the scene of the crash.
"We could hear all these people yelling and just started sprinting," he said. "We asked what had happened. They said, 'Crash. Two cars'. We said, 'Where's the other car?"'
Peering over the edge of the bridge the men could see a man in the water and hear him screaming, "help me, help me". By that stage the van had already disappeared out of sight.