Emma Woods' hugs Ashley Austin outside Christchurch District Court.
Emma Woods' hugs Ashley Austin outside Christchurch District Court.
Every day of every year somebody somewhere performs an act of kindness, courage, leadership or devotion that deserves an accolade.
In 2010, one stood out, both in the minds of our selection panel and the feedback from hundreds of readers.
Emma Woods was walking with her two boys, Jacob, 6,and Nayan, 4, on a Friday evening in Christchurch when a teenager's car came from a side street, mounted the footpath, spun off a fence and killed Nayan.
Emma Woods, mother of 4-year-old Nayan Woods who was run over and killed by Ashley Austin. (NZ Herald Archive)
When the 17-year-old pleaded guilty to dangerous driving charges, Mrs Woods asked the court not to send him to jail. She told him she did not want the tragedy to be the defining moment of his life.
She and he later worked together on a shrine in memory of Nayan.
Her goodness spoke for itself. The rarity of her example of true forgiveness - in a society shaped too often by conflict, accentuated victimhood, revenge and forced apologies - made Emma Woods our New Zealander of the Year for 2011.
