A post on the Browns Bay Facebook group which claimed to have been made with the blessing of the family said Neco Sushi owner, Marie, had been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit at Auckland Hospital.
“Marie and her sons wish to reiterate their thanks to everyone in the community who helped her on the day of the incident,” the post said.
“They also wish to thank many more people who have since reached out to them to offer their support and prayer.
After being treated on the footpath, the victim was taken to Auckland Hospital with serious injuries while the offender responsible died at the scene from self-inflicted injuries, according to police.
Police were called to the stabbing where a woman was found lying in a pool of blood outside Neco Sushi on March 28. Photo / Hayden Woodward
A family friend told the Herald the offender was Marie’s estranged husband who was once part of the Neco sushi business.
The pair have had issues with their marriage and Marie had suggested getting a divorce.
The couple have two adult sons. The older son was a mathematics teacher at a North Shore high school and the younger one worked in the IT industry.
“Both of the boys often help out at the sushi shop, helping the mother with shopping and deliveries,” said the friend, who did not want to be named.
Brave Construction co-owner Laurence Park was first at the scene following the stabbing. Photo / Dean Purcell
The friend said Marie was in good spirits and during a visit earlier this week even joked with a former Neco Sushi staff member, asking her to take over the business.
She described Marie as “very generous” and someone who found joy when sharing food with others.
“She loves cooking and often cooked a lot and she would then share them with friends and people around her, including her neighbours,” the friend said.
Construction worker Laurence Park, 34, was first at the scene following the attack on the eve of Good Friday.
The director of Brave Construction Limited was working on a shop fit-out of a nail bar next to Neco Sushi when he saw the victim covered in blood and crawling out of the store.
“At first I didn’t know what I was seeing, I saw something on the floor that I thought was a black apron but then I realised it was a person crawling and covered in blood,” Park said.
“There was so much blood that I couldn’t see a face. I just dropped everything and rushed to her and saw that she was bleeding really, really severely.”
Park said he found Marie bleeding heavily from a neck wound, applied pressure with his hand to stem the blood loss and yelled for his workers to come out.
One of the men, Vincent Yeo, 34, rushed to a barber shop across the street to get clean towels and returned to attend to the victim while Park called police.
Park said he moved the injured woman out of the shop and shouted for his men to secure the shop door so the attacker couldn’t escape. Another of the men then ran to block the back exit.
In a handwritten note attached to the shop door, the family thanked the “heroes who were present at the time of the incident”.
The Browns Bay Business Association also placed a note at the shop saying the quick action of those passing by “no doubt assisted in giving Neco Sushi’s owner a chance of survival”.
The latest post said Neco Sushi will remain closed until the family is better placed to decide the way forward.
“We have no doubt that the community will continue to support them on Marie’s journey back to health and when the business reopens,” the Facebook post added.
