Auckland stabbing in Takanini: Hero couple tell how they helped three stab victims

A hero South Auckland couple who helped three people stabbed on a quiet suburban street can still hear the cries for help.

“It’s still in my mind, the shouting, [and begging] ‘Save us!” the Takanini woman told the Herald when describing Friday night’s on Kutukutu St.

She described how one of the injured women begged for medical help to arrive faster.

“If I die, then who will look after my son,” the woman implored as she lay bleeding.

Other witnesses described blood everywhere, with another neighbour saying it “broke my heart” watching two young children walk behind their mother as she was pushed away on an ambulance trolley.

“They were just following behind ... I felt so sorry,” she said.

Police are investigating after three people were stabbed on Kutukutu Street in Takanini last night. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Police have now arrested a 34-year-old man and charged him with three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Three people were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Witnesses yesterday said two women and a man were stabbed during the incident that spilled out of a house and onto the normally quiet street, filled with new-build townhouses.

“It’s shocking there was so much blood,” a neighbour said yesterday.

“It was a very bad scene: three were stabbed, the guy had multiple stab wounds over his arms, legs, and under the chest, and [a woman] was stabbed really badly in the stomach.”

Speaking today, the South Auckland couple told how they heroically intervened in the “terrifying” incident.

The Herald is unable to report the full details of their actions now that a man has been charged and the matter is due to go before the courts.

But both the husband and wife said they came out of their front door to a “really terrifying” scene.

“Our hands were shaking and we had no idea what to do,” the wife said.

The scene on Kutukutu Street in Takanini last night. Photo / Hayden Woodward

They immediately called the police and ambulance.

Once they were able to help the wounded, they gathered the three injured people in their driveway.

“They all came here and their children as well, so they were all covered with blood,” she said.

The injured man initially stood “with the help of the fence”, his arms against it.

Soon he began to lose consciousness from blood loss and slumped where he stood.

The injured mother repeatedly called on them to take her to hospital.

The couple called to other neighbours for help, and a nurse came and gave medical directions.

Together they applied pressure to the wounds and splashed water on the face of the man who had fallen unconscious.

Fortunately, paramedics arrived within about 10 minutes, the couple said.

They said that throughout their rescue efforts and the incident their “main motive is to save them”.

“For us it’s a matter of humanity, so we can’t let anyone to die,” the woman said.

When the Herald chatted to them the day after the incident, there was little sign of what had happened.

A tournament of touch rugby was taking place at a nearby park and families were out and about on Kutukutu St.

Firefighters had earlier hosed off much of the blood staining the roadside, but hadn’t cleaned all of it.

Instead, the couple were soaking their driveway and even some windows in strong chemicals before water blasting them.

They hope it’s not just their driveway that they’ll be able to sanitise.

“We hardly slept last night,” the wife said.