Editorial: Turning death into a positive

Wiremu and Marsella Edmonds.

ALMOST two years ago, Wiremu (Lee) and Marsella Edmonds got the worst news a parent could get - their son had been killed in a forestry accident.

They have shown remarkable resilience and have turned this tragedy into the catalyst for something positive - so the death of Robert Ruri-Epapara won't be forgotten.

Their campaign to try and stop more forestry deaths occurring among bush workers and contractors is admirable and is why they have been named the Rotorua Daily Post people of the year.

This year, they've been the keynote speakers at 78 events, run 26 leadership programmes, dealt with more than 52 companies and spoken to more than 8000 people sharing their story and putting a focus on forest safety here and overseas.

Each time they get up to speak about what happened to Robert, they must feel that same loss. Of course, this will get easier over time, but to have to relive that moment time and again takes a lot of courage.

If they can save just one person's life in the industry which has seen so much unnecessary death and injury in the past few years, their son would be proud. If they can help to make changes in that industry they must be given credit.

This is not to take anything away from the other people in our fantastic community that made the list - all contributed in different ways to make Rotorua a better place.

This year, we had a new politician in Tamati Coffey, who is soon to open a bar in the city, rescuers Ross Bryson and Brendon Walker, as well as Kharl William Wirepa.

We had Olympian and world champion rower Julia Edward and long-serving Rotorua businessman Brian McGillivray.

Who would forget the efforts of transTasman kayaker Scott Donaldson who only just missed out on making his own record.

Kylie Lang also walked the length of the North Island to raise awareness of mental heath issues, so we had plenty to choose from.

No doubt it will be just as tough for us to choose winners next year.