Evie Bond died in Wellington Hospital on March 3.
Shane Thorne is still processing the loss of the love of his life, Yvonne “Evie” Bond, after he found her with unexplained injuries at the back of their property in Onekawa.
Bond, 46, was hospitalised on February 20, after suffering serious injuries at Dunlop Rd.
She was initially treated at Hawke’s Bay Hospital, before being transferred to Wellington Hospital, where she died on March 3.
Police inquiries are ongoing.
Thorne said Bond was at the back of his workshop when he found her lying on her back and unconscious.
“No one knows [what happened]. She was out there by herself and I had no idea what she was doing,” he said.
He said the back of his workshop was “a bit of a trip hazard”, with concrete and loose gravel and said hospital medical staff told him she had had a fall and had a bruise on her bottom and a lump on the back of her head.
“I didn’t think it was all that serious, but they said they had to medevac her down to Wellington and she just seemed to go from bad to worse,” Thorne said.
“She had such a jolt that it rocked her brain around a bit and the swelling just wouldn’t get under control. I was with her for two weeks... And then she died.”
He said she was the love of his life.
“She was feisty, she had a wicked sense of humour, she was honest as the day is long, she loved kids, she loved animals, she was a hard worker,” Thorne said.
“She came from a really tough start in life and she just battled all the way. She just had this fight in her and I just respected her and loved her so much.”
The couple moved to Hawke’s Bay from Palmerston North for “a fresh start” just over a year ago.
They planned to start a property maintenance and engineering business together with his engineering expertise and her cleaning and horticulture experience.
“Evie had Level Four in Horticulture and she really loved plants and growing things and she was going to take care of the landscaping and the cleaning.”
He said support from family had been fantastic, but he was still working through what happened.
“When I am at home I am surrounded by her,” he said.
“I’ve just been moping around the workshop, I’ve been repotting all her pot plants, putting photos of her up everywhere. I just don’t know how I am going to recover from this, I really don’t. She was my whole world,” he said.
Bond had four children and six grandchildren.
Her funeral was held at Kelvin Grove Cemetery in Palmerston North.
Paunovic moved to Havelock North with her family from Croatia seven years ago.