Mother's kneecap break shatters family holiday but council workers ease the pain

Simone Wright in the back of Napier City Council's work truck after breaking her knee cap along Marine Parade. Photo/Supplied

One family's traditional Hawke's Bay holiday could have been a lot worse if it wasn't for a group of Napier City Council workers.

The Wright family come every year to Napier from Levin for a long weekend in March and on Saturday embarked on their annual family scooter and bike ride along Marine Parade.

Victor and Simone Wright along with their six children had just been to see the new viewing platform and were heading towards the skate park when things took a turn for the worse.

"I just turned around and saw my wife go right over the scooter handle bars," Mr Wright said.

As Mrs Wright fell she put all of her weight on to her left knee breaking her kneecap in two.

The children, who ranged in age from 7 to 20, began to panic as their mum lay on the footpath in agony.

"She was in so much pain and it was horrible for the kids to see so my eldest son and I lifted her up and moved her to a nearby bench."

A locked chain prevented vehicle access in to the Soundshell which meant there was more than a 20m gap between Mrs Wright and the car.

Mr Wright saw council workers nearby so asked them if they could unlock the chain so he could get his car through.

"They said they had no key but I think they could tell something had happened as they asked me what was wrong."

Mr Wright explained that his wife was over on the bench and needed to get to the health clinic urgently after falling off her scooter.

He said with not a second to waste the workers dropped everything, got in their little work truck and drove straight to her.

Mrs Wright was lifted in to the back of the truck and driven to the end of the Soundshell where Mr Wright met her with their car.

"I was honestly expecting them to be all politically correct and not help due to health and safety hazards but they did the complete opposite.

"It just shows that old school ways are still around."

Mrs Wright was then taken by ambulance to Hawke's Bay Hospital and underwent surgery that night.

The children went back to Levin on Sunday while Mr and Mrs Wright stayed in Hastings until she was discharged from hospital last night.

The holiday the family hoped for didn't happen but Mr Wright remained in good spirits and said they would definitely be back.

"We love Hawke's Bay and we have been coming up here every year for the past 20 years. I think accidents like this show how great people up here really are."

The family was overwhelmed by the support from council workers and was very grateful for their quick action.

"They certainly made a bad situation much better so we are very thankful for that."

Mr Wright said the family will be back in 12 months' time and just hoped they would get to properly enjoy the warm weather and activities Napier has on offer.