Stabbing hero, drowning victim recognised in bravery awards

A hero who saved a man from a brutal Flaxmere stabbing attack and an Australian tourist who tragically died saving a young boy from drowning in southwest Otago are among those recognised in the New Zealand bravery awards today.

They are among 10 people honoured for their acts of bravery over the past couple of years.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said all the recipients had done the country proud.

“Every day, ordinary New Zealanders face danger – and some days they are lucky enough to have someone close enough, and brave enough, to help them out.”

Junior Faamalosi (Losi) Isaako was recognised for tackling a knife-wielding criminal and giving crucial first aid to a man who had been stabbed.

On June 20 of this year, Isaako went outside his Flaxmere home after waking to the sound of loud arguing and saw multiple people fighting. One man was fleeing from another, who was wielding a large knife.

The fleeing man was pinned against a vehicle opposite Isaako’s property and stabbed once in the back and twice in the leg.

The victim curled into a foetal position as another man joined in on the beating, kicking and punching. It looked like the knife was about to be used again.

This spurred Isaako into action.

He ran to scene, kicking the first offender in the back, throwing him into the ground, restraining him and disarming him. The second offender fled.

He then helped the victim to a safer spot, wrapped a towel as a makeshift tourniquet over the victim’s leg wound, placed him in the recovery position and put pressure on the other wounds. He continued to assist as emergency services arrived.

Isaako was awarded the New Zealand Bravery Decoration for his actions that day.

Luxon said it was an “extraordinary act of bravery” that “saved the victim’s life”.

Three people received recognition for a young boy’s rescue at the confluence of the Rees River and Lake Wakatipu in southwest Otago in January 2023.

They are Sergeant Harry Ghodke and Australian holidaymakers Johnny Young and Susan Burke.

A young boy had been swept downriver, panicking as he was unable to touch the bottom or swim against the strong current.

Ghodke, off duty with his family at the time, immediately swam out to help the boy but was unable to swim back with him, hamstrung by a strong undertow.

Young saw this take place and attempted to swim and pull the boy back to shore, but they were separated and, exhausted, he stopped swimming.

Burke spotted Young and the boy about 15 metres from shore and swam out to assist, focussing on getting the boy to shore.

She managed to hook her arm around his chest and swam him close enough to shore for Ghodke to take him from her.

Cries of “he’s gone under” alerted Burke to the fact that Young had disappeared, so upon getting the boy to safety she immediately swam back out, accompanied by two others.

Despite duck-diving to the point of exhaustion, they were unable to find him.

Sadly, Young drowned. His body was recovered the next day.

All three were awarded The New Zealand Bravery Medal.

In a joint statement, Burke and Ghodke said that their thoughts and prayers remained with Young’s family.

“The rescue was a collective effort, and we wish to acknowledge the courage shown by Jonathan, whose actions demonstrated profound selflessness. This was an extremely challenging and emotional event.”

Young’s partner Hsu Tin said she wished he could’ve received the award himself.

“Jonny loved living. In a way, he died for his love of living. For a boy to continue on living, in return he gave away his.

“It’s an honour of my life to have been loved by this man who had always put others first – the reason why we’re all here and he isn’t. Jonny was the kindest and most loving fiancé, son, brother, uncle and a caring cat dad to our orange boy Benny.

“He will forever hold the biggest space in our hearts and forever be missed and remembered for his bravery.”

Alongside Ghodke, four other police officers received awards for acts of bravery in emergencies across the motu.

“While acknowledging all recipients of awards today, I would also like to especially acknowledge our police. Five of the eight people receiving a Bravery Medal were on or off duty police officers. They do us proud,” Luxon said.

Constable Alexander Kerr was pivotal in preventing a drowning, this time of a woman swept away in the darkness by the Waikato River.

Detective Sergeant Heath Jones helped save a fellow police officer and her two young children from her shed roof near Hastings during Cyclone Gabrielle Flooding. He then assisted a precariously stranded older couple trying to cross floodwater just a few hundred metres away.

Constable Friederike Faber and Sergeant Richard Bracey were recognised for their dramatic arrest of a man at an Auckland property as petrol-fuelled flames from the fire he’d deliberately lit danced around them.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulated the officers.

“Police do an outstanding job every day keeping our communities safe, but the officers recognised today have gone above and beyond," he said.

“We should all be grateful for those officers who sacrifice their own safety to help others.”