A Tauranga man seeking compensation after his dead son's heart was removed without consent has exhausted his avenues for legal appeal after an almost decade long battle - but he says he will not stop fighting.
John MacKenzie, 81, alleges his 20-year-old son Kenneth's heart was unlawfully removed after his life support was turned off in Tauranga Hospital on October 2, 1987 - the day after he suffered serious head injuries in a motorcycle accident. A doctor asked for consent to take his son's heart, but he refused.
He filed an application seeking a recall of a Supreme Court judgment of June 1, 2016 declining him leave to appeal against a judgment of Andrews J in the High Court.
This week the Supreme Court ruled against his application for a recall.
Mr MacKenzie argued that the time frame for limitation purposes did not begin to run until the date on which he received a letter from the Crown Health Financing Agency denying liability on November 24, 2006.