Merenia Donne was saved by her dog Nikki after a car crash in Taranaki. File Photo / Tracey Grant / Whanganui Chronicle
Merenia Donne was saved by her dog Nikki after a car crash in Taranaki. File Photo / Tracey Grant / Whanganui Chronicle
A heroic dog who pulled her badly injured owner from a car wreck will be honoured with a prestigious award at Government House tonight, decades after the event.
Nikki the German shepherd saved owner Merenia Donne’s life when the car they were travelling in went over a steep bankduring a drive through Taranaki in 1997.
Nikki is now posthumously receiving the first civilian version of the New Zealand Animal Distinguished Service Award (NZADSA) for her bravery that day.
The award, established by the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation, recognises outstanding actions, deeds or service of individual animals to the community.
Donne, who was previously made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to training disability assistance dogs, spoke to the Herald about the day of the horror crash.
“The air had gone out of the tyres,” she said. “It’s like suddenly the tyre goes flat . . . and I just fishtailed all over the place and, you know, we were going over the cliff, I couldn’t do anything to stop it.
Merenia Donne's car crashed down a bank during a trip to Eltham, Taranaki in 1997.
“It’s etched in my brain forever, I will never forget it,” said Donne, who didn’t travel in a car for years after the crash due to her PTSD.
“The car went off the cliff, turned over several times, and ended up upside down in a creek.”
Nikki, who was unsecured in the back seat, leaped out of the car and ran around to Donne’s side, pulling her out of the car and up the bank as stunned witnesses watched from the road above.
“She was an incredible, incredible dog,” she said.
Nikki died of bone cancer in the early 2000s, and Donne started the Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa (KFAAA) in her memory.
Merenia Donne was saved by her dog Nikki after a car crash in Taranaki. File Photo / Tracey Grant / Whanganui Chronicle
Now Nikki has become the recipient of the inaugural NZADSA civilian medal, which will be awarded in a ceremony at Government House this evening. The award is run by the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation, which covers Australasia.
Donne will be on the medal panel for future years, and said future medals will be awarded to one recipient per year.
“Obviously I’m biased, prejudiced, whatever you want to call it, but I don’t think there will be any animal to match what Nikki did in the future,” she said.
“It sounds arrogant but that’s how I feel about it.”
She had “a mixture of feelings” over Nikki receiving the first award, saying it was “bittersweet” and that she missed Nikki every day.
“She’s being recognised by what is anticipated to be, going forward, a very prestigious, very difficult to achieve award.”
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 12 years.
