Patrick O'Brien - Hawke's Bay Today's Person of the Year

Tyson O'Brien, 18 (left), Theresa O'Brien (right) and Elijah O'Brien 8, with a cherished photo of their late father and husband, Patrick O'Brien. Photo / Warren Buckland

The late Patrick Tama O'Brien has been named the Hawke's Bay Today Person of the Year for 2019.

As his widow, Theresa, said, it would not have been something the inspirational community champion would have made too much fuss about.

"He was a man of few words — he would likely have shied away from this," she said.

O'Brien, who was 38, was tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident on the Hawke's Bay Expressway on November 15. The crash also claimed the life of Hastings farmer Tony Anderson.

O'Brien's death shattered his family and the thousands of people he had influenced and inspired through his, and Theresa's, devotion to the community through sport.

Theresa said she was proud to accept the honour for O'Brien as it was further recognition of "the magnitude of what he has given to thousands of people".

Kickboxer and elite sportsman Patrick O'Brien has been posthumously crowned Hawke's Bay Today's 2019 Person of the Year. Photo / File

Raised in Flaxmere, Patrick O'Brien emerged to become an accomplished athlete, representing Hawke's Bay in basketball with the Hawks in 2006, and in 2017 became a world champion kickboxer in the under-19kg 18-35 years division at the Unified World Championships in Italy.

The success he had achieved, especially in combat sports, sparked him to set others on a path which could create a positive change in their lives.

One of those who nominated O'Brien for the honour, Sally Crown of Kotare Services, said he was "adamant that sport develops us physically, mentally and spiritually".

He and Theresa set up The Lab Training Centre in Onekawa, and 10 years ago they began the nationally acclaimed Battle For Life event — sparked to assist as well as inspire, and inject back into the community.

Through the years it saw hundreds of participants, many with no previous experience, step into the ring as they began their journeys of motivation.

Patrick O'Brien at the launch of the Flaxmere Heroes Calendar in November 2017. Photo / File

The event raised great amounts of valuable funding for a string of community-focused causes and programmes, including suicide prevention.

Funds raised were held and distributed by the Anahera o Te Rangi Charitable Trust which was formed in memory of the infant daughter the couple lost.

O'Brien's visions to make positive changes in many peoples' lives, and devotion to The Lab Training Centre, saw the gymnasium morph into a true community entity — the members of it creating "The Labfam" — a family.

Sally Crown said: "This family grew through Patrick's philosophies and actions and is a direct result of his ability to facilitate genuine connection — to build community."

While he never sought acclaim or recognition, his activities and successes saw awards and tributes head his way.

He won the Ngati Kahungunu Sports Administrator of the Year in 2012 and at the 2015 awards he and Theresa together won the administrator award.

Last year O'Brien featured on the Flaxmere Heroes Calender, although, again, it was not something he made a big fuss about.

That recognition reflected what the community saw in him, and the community has hugely supported Theresa and their sons, Tyson, 18, and 8-year-old Elijah at this emotionally challenging time.

"It's still early days and it has been really rough," Theresa said.

"All of our whole world has been broken to the core but we have been very fortunate to have so much support.

"Friends and extended family and the whole wider community, even people we don't know, have shown a tremendous amount of love — it has been so helpful to see all this love."

She said the other strong healing component on the grieving journey was knowing O'Brien had led such a full and inspiring life.

"The magnitude of what he was given to thousands of people — he lived every day giving and fighting for what he believed in."

Theresa said O'Brien had experienced a lot of adversity in his life but always stood by his stoic philosophy of "always looking for the positives".

He also would say that you had to turn "tragedy into triumph" and that had always been the strong and inspiring path he took.

"And we will do the same," Theresa said. "We will turn this tragedy into triumph."

Judges this year were Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise and Hawke's Bay Today's editor and deputy editor, Craig Cooper and Mark Story.