'I am amazed I am alive': Shot Rotorua taxi driver speaks out

Police guard the taxi that was caught in the crossfire of an incident on Te Ngae Rd. Photo / Supplied

A Rotorua taxi driver should be counting down the days to his wedding in India in a few weeks' time. Instead, he's nursing wounds to his shoulder from a bullet. The daytime shooting at an intersection just opposite a popular indoor family fun park has left the taxi driver scared and upset. But he is determined to block the horror ordeal out of his mind and continue to love Rotorua - soon to be his permanent new home.

"I am amazed I am alive."

These are the words of a Rotorua taxi driver who is today fighting hard to recover from a horror ordeal after he was shot.

The driver, who spoke on condition he was not identified, is nursing two wounds on his right shoulder and a cut on his cheek after a bullet hit his windscreen, ricocheted and left shards in his shoulder.

He had just finished his last job of the day, dropping pilots heading to the Rotorua Airport at the Te Ngae Shopping Centre before heading home.

He was at the intersection of Te Ngae and Iles Rds about 5pm on September 1 when the incident happened.

The taxi driver told the Rotorua Daily Post he could not believe what was happening. After his windscreen smashed, he felt something in his shoulder.

He knew he had been shot but, oddly, he did not feel any pain.

"I couldn't feel anything, it was numb. There was a lot of blood but I wasn't sure where it was coming from."

With his left hand, he managed to turn the taxi and drive into Lynmore Junction where he knew people who worked at the House of Spice restaurant.

"I went in there and said to the guy 'take me to hospital'."

The driver said the incident had left him so upset, he wanted to forget the whole thing.

"I don't want to think about it again."

He spent two nights in Rotorua Hospital where he was treated for his wounds, the one at the top of his shoulder being the worst, and got five stitches on his cheek.

He had fought hard for the past two-and-a-half weeks to do everything right to recover because at the end of this month he and his fiance are to fly home to India for their wedding.

He said he had no choice but to go ahead with the plans as he had already paid for the trip and deposits for the wedding.

He has also purposely not told his family, including his parents, who he has not seen since moving to New Zealand more than six years ago, as he was worried they would worry about him too much and insist he stay in India.

He said they would get quite the shock when he stepped off the plane with his arm in a sling because, like him, they had only heard good things about New Zealand's safety.

He said he was due to get his New Zealand citizenship next year and in January this year he had bought his own taxi to be a part-owner of Rotorua Taxis.

"I was really excited to go to India but now with a broken arm I can't enjoy it that much."

But despite the ordeal, the driver said he would return to Rotorua and continue driving his taxi. He said it had not clouded his views of the "beautiful" city he had chosen to settle in.

"I especially love the people ... It's a beautiful city and it's so peaceful."

He said he wanted to thank all the taxi drivers and friends who had supported him since the shooting.

"They have really helped me."

Two men are facing a range of charges. One, a Hamilton man, appeared in the Rotorua District Court on Monday . He has interim name suppression and will reappear on September 30. A second man was due to appear in the Whakatane District Court on Wednesday .