Auckland police officer Zane Wienk describes long, gruelling recovery after being struck by fleeing driver

An Auckland police officer has opened up on his long and gruelling recovery after being struck while laying road spikes to stop a driver who was being chased across Auckland.

Constable Zane Wienk was injured during a 21km cross-city pursuit on the evening of November 9 last year after police spotted what they thought was a stolen car.

Wienk and a colleague put out road spikes on the corner of Manukau Station Rd and Osterley Way in South Auckland in an attempt to stop the car, which was being driven by former reality TV star Matthew John Saunoa.

Wienk was thrown through the air and into a tree, suffering a shattered pelvis, a broken leg and two punctured lungs.

“He swerved briefly to the left and then made a massive correction to the right and just bowled me over ... I didn’t have time to think,” Wienk said in an interview with the police’s Ten One Magazine.

“It wasn’t a great feeling,” he said.

Police investigating the scene along Manukau Station Rd. Photo / Hayden Woodward

A critical care paramedic rushed to Wienk’s aid, performing a finger thoracostomy, the gruesome task of inserting a finger into his chest to stop his punctured lungs from collapsing around his heart.

“She had to decide whether or not to fully intubate me and put me under to perform the procedure or just dose me up with a lot of ketamine and then get in there and she chose the latter,” Wienk said.

In a review afterwards, they found that if the paramedic had chosen to intubate, Wienk would have died.

Constable Zane Wienk suffered multiple, near-fatal injuries after being struck by a vehicle while putting out road spikes in Manukau last year. Photo / Police

“It came pretty close,” Wienk said.

“[I was] lucky to have the right people there looking after me.”

The officer was taken to hospital in a critical condition, police said at the time.

A large police response that included the Eagle helicopter followed, with the pursuit lasting about 21km as the vehicle headed north to the city centre. It was found under Grafton Rd near Auckland Domain.

Saunoa, who rose to fame in 2006 at the age of 21 as he took out the top spot in season three of New Zealand Idol, was found a short distance away on Khyber Pass Rd and was arrested.

Matthew Saunoa, a former New Zealand Idol contestant, appears in the Manukau District Court last month for sentencing. Photo / Alex Burton

He was charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, failing to stop a motor vehicle, and taking a vehicle unlawfully.

Saunoa appeared in the Manukau District Court last month for sentencing. Judge Ngaroma Tahana ordered him to serve six years and seven months imprisonment.

The sentence took into account his guilty plea for aggravated serious bodily harm and 10 lesser charges relating to crimes he had committed since his deportation from Australia.

“One day I may be able to forgive you for the physical injuries you have inflicted on me and the pain I suffer every day as a result,” Wienk told Saunoa during a victim impact statement. “I will never forgive you for making my family cry over me.”

Despite his traumatic injuries and gruelling recovery, including having to learn how to walk again, Wienk says the incident has not put him off front-line policing.

“Back then it was very disheartening that this could have potentially stopped me from doing the job that I love not on my own terms,” Wienk said.

The constable said the biggest impact mentally and emotionally was on his family, which has as a result had the biggest mental impact on him.

“It has not put me off front-line policing. In fact, it’s the first thing I want to do when I become deployable again,” Wienk said.

“I can’t wait to get back, despite this. That’s how good it is, you get hit by a car and keep coming back.”