A 95-year-old World War II veteran, who caught four buses to be part of an anti-racism rally in downtown Auckland last weekend, says togetherness and respect for others has come out of the terrible Christchurch terrorist attack that probably couldn't have surfaced any other way.
A photo went around the world of John Sato being helped along the road by a policeman and another man to the rally against racism at Aotea Square on Sunday.
The photo has become something of a symbol of our collective conscience and need to speak out and reach out, TVNZ1's Seven Sharp reported.
The programme caught up with Mr Sato at his home in suburban Howick today following his attendance at the large rally.
"I just felt one of them, I had a great oneness, shall I say, just to be there," he said.
"It's not being holy or shouting out or anything. It's a community, you are part of community in your own little way just by being there. That's all.
"I don't like bigotry, I don't like hate."
And Mr Sato had come to a realisation about the mosques terrorist attack in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed and another 50 injured on March 15.
"On reflection, I realise though that was terrible, there was something came out of it that couldn't have happened any other way probably - and that was bringing people together with great compassion and love and understanding and respect for others."
While thousands of New Zealanders would say Mr Sato put warmth in their hearts, for him it's a two-way street.
"They give warmth in me. It's a two-way trade, you know. We do it for each other."
Mr Sato, whose father was Japanese and mother Scottish, is a regular sight stepping it out round the streets of Howick in what he cheekily describes as his "late stage of decay".
He said he was getting a bit weary heading to the rally on Sunday, but the policeman and other helper were very kind.
"They were afraid I would drop on the footpath and clutter the place up, you see," he quipped.
Very kind too were the police who brought him home after the rally.
"I didn't expect it, I would have got a bus from Victoria Park."
Mr Sato agrees we're all in this together, "and let's keep it that way and let it grow".
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