New Year Honours: Lifetime of saving lives created a legend

Neil Reid

** The New Year Honours are the nation's way of thanking the men and women whose efforts make New Zealand a better place to live. **

In surf lifesaving circles, Neil Reid is a legend who has seen the New Zealand beach lifestyle in all its guises over nearly 50 years.

Separate shark attacks which killed two teenage mates off Dunedin's St Kilda beach in the mid-1960s; the reckless boozing of the 1980s; ethnic groups encountering the dangers of Auckland's wild west coast; and the growing professionalism of surf lifesaving.

The 59-year-old has been plucking people from dangerous seas for 45 years and is still an active member of the Muriwai Volunteer Lifeguard Service. This week he did a patrol involving 25 rescues.

In 1990 he won the rescue of the year award for saving the lives of two fishermen at Bethells Beach, one of whom was lucky to have the advanced resuscitation instructor on hand when he was brought ashore unconscious.

Reid helped to turn the Auckland Marine Rescue Centre into a professional outfit and is a past president of Surf Life Saving New Zealand.

For these, and numerous other services to surf lifesaving, he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year's Honours.

"If I live to be 100 years I could never repay all that surf lifesaving has done for me over the years," he said.

The skills he picked up running surf lifesaving organisations transferred to business, where he is managing director of Stanley Tools.

Far from being the blokesy pastime of the 1960s and 1970s, he says surf lifesaving has become more professional and family focused. His wife, Patricia, has had a career in surf lifesaving.

"It is actually quite wonderful to see all the kids, well over 100, here at Muriwai on a Sunday morning. We have the nipper programme and they learn the fundamentals of beach safety while having a good time under careful supervision."

Reid said the funding of surf lifesaving was in pretty good shape but he was worried the disbursement of lottery and gaming funding could be centralised under the Labour Government.

"I guess with the Government, the way that they are, they will probably disperse most of it to social [programmes] and the arts. It is a long time since surf lifesaving was ever granted any money direct from the Government."

Another worry was the effects of tightened smoking and pokie legislation and the drop in income for charitable organisations.

"I know we shouldn't really be concerning ourselves with that sort of stuff, but the reality of the situation is that is where we get a big chunk of our money."