Tragedy behind generous gift

From left: Ken Forster, Jenny Forster, Eva Graham (six), Diane Henare, Makaere Graham (one) and Casey Graham.

Diane Henare wonders whether her husband might have lived following a heart attack if the family had had access to a defibrillator.

Sandy Henare died last month aged 54 at his Mowhanau Village home despite never having had a problem with his heart before.

Family members administered CPR as best they could, but with the ambulance 30 minutes away in Whanganui, their efforts could not save their loved-one.

"I guess if the village had had a defibrillator it may have saved him. We can't know," Mrs Henare, a village resident and principal at Rutherford Junior High School, said.

She and her family were instrumental in getting the village a defibrillator unit when shortly after Sandy's death the chance came up to win one.

Television show Seven Sharp was giving away several units and asked interested groups and organisations to write in.

Sandy's daughter Kylie Henare took up the challenge and to everybody's suprise Mowhanau was selected.

An informal presentation took place on Friday December 1 at the community hall where the defibrillator will be kept.

"It will be available for anybody to use - they just need to call 111 to get the code to unlock the keypad," centre secretary Robyn Allen-Dick said.

The defibrillator itself is funded by a group of organisations but the Henare family are pitching in with the cabinet in which it will be kept.

Mrs Allen-Dick said the community was grateful as the units "save lives" and were an important piece of medical equipment for the village to have given its proximity out of town and away from emergency services.