Sandra Bristowe, embraces her heroes Josevaia Tikomaihawai (l) and Eruera Irwin. Photo / Mathew Nash
A Rotorua family is rejoicing in a “miracle” after the chance arrival of council workers saved the life of 78-year-old Sandra Bristowe.
Bristowe reunited with her saviours last week, when they recounted the dramatic day.
About 2.45pm on Friday, November 21, Bristowe was weed-whacking in the front garden, readying to mow the lawns later that afternoon.
But she never got her hands on the mower. After feeling dizzy, she fell to the ground and started calling for help.
By chance, Rotorua Lakes Council workers Josevaia Tikomaihawai and Eruera Irwin were arriving to fix a water leak at a neighbouring property, parking outside Bristowe’s home in Phillip St.
Tikomaihawai heard the calls for help, before eventually spotting a leg from behind the gate.
He poked his head around the corner to find Bristowe, in clear discomfort, on the ground.
Her “godsend” had arrived, in work boots and high vis.
“It’s a miracle,” Bristowe said. “If the truck was parked anywhere else [than] outside my house, they wouldn’t have heard me.”
After being alerted, two contractors already on the site, but who hadn’t heard her cries because of heavy machinery noise, called an ambulance.
Tikomaihawai and Irwin kept the great-grandmother comfortable and attempted to shield her from the sun as they waited for the ambulance.
Bristowe said she remembered very little, but did recall someone praying.
That someone was Tikomaihawai.
“I just heard someone calling ‘help’ and went to look,” he said.
“I just carried her and put her on her side, she was lucky not to hit her head on the concrete.”
Irwin initially thought she had “just fallen”, but then she started “grabbing at her chest” and complaining of pain.
“It’s great to see her now.”
Once in the ambulance, Bristowe suffered a cardiac arrest and needed five shocks from a defibrillator to restart her heart.
“I’m amazed I’m alive,” she said. “There were lots of little miracles.”
The previous day, she had told her neighbour with the water leak to inform the council, effectively summoning her saviours in advance.
Grand-daughter Shannyn Bristowe said that, had the two council workers not come across Sandra, she would not be here today.
Instead, she lived to meet the newest member of the family, Te Manako, Shannyn’s newborn, originally due to be induced that day, who was born a few days later.
“If it wasn’t for you being there first, we would’ve been planning a funeral at the same time as having a baby,” Shannyn told Tikomaihawai and Irwin.
Sandra Bristowe’s daughter Awhi said that what could have been a tainted and tragic time would now always be considered a “miracle time”.
“We’re incredibly grateful Mum is still here.
“The care she’s received, from the ambulance to the hospital, has been outstanding.”
Meeting her heroes gave Sandra Bristowe another chance to connect the dots from a hazy afternoon.
Her confusion on arrival at the hospital was such that she misidentified herself as “Unk-Ostrich”, a genderless 114-year-old – much to the family’s amusement.
“It’s interesting what your mind does,” Sandra said of her semi-lucid state.
Rotorua Lakes Council chief executive Andrew Moraes said he was “really proud” of the two “council legends”.
“Our staff do a fantastic job of doing their jobs, and while it’s not often seen or acknowledged, they also often go above and beyond.
“The actions of our staff in this situation exemplify the very best of what it is to work for and be part of a community.”
Water services delivery manager Jason Dunweg said all field staff were first aid-trained, and he was “relieved” to hear of Bristowe’s recovery.
“They just did what we hope anyone would do in such a situation, but we’re very proud of them. They didn’t hesitate to help, and their quick actions made a difference.”
Bristowe has now been fitted with an automated internal defibrillator, which should shock her heart back into a normal rhythm if she should have another cardiac arrest.
She faces some major lifestyle changes, including putting the weed-eater into retirement, with power tools off limits.
She still intends to look after her garden but is ready to adjust.
“My whole life has changed, and that’s probably the hardest thing, having to stop and think of the things you do,” she said.
“But thanks to these guys, I’m here to tell the story.”
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.