Green MP Efeso Collins has collapsed while participating in a charity event in central Auckland.
Green MP Efeso Collins has died after collapsing while participating in a charity event in central Auckland.
Collins was taking part in ChildFund Water Run to raise funds to support local communities in the Pacific at 9am in Auckland’s Britomart when he collapsed.
Emergency services immediately responded with CPR and defibrillators to treat the MP and continued working for him an hour.
An organiser for the event confirmed to the Herald he had died at the scene.
A St John spokesperson said response teams were on the scene with one ambulance and one rapid response vehicle.
A representative for the event said Collins was “happy and jovial” in the moment before he collapsed.
“Everyone was just in shock, it happened so quickly,” the man said.
People working at the event “jumped into action quickly” and started performing CPR on him immediately before the defibrillator was brought out.
One ambulance and four staff have been performing CPR on him “for at least 15 minutes” he said.
“Everyone’s just waiting here, you know, praying for the best outcome for him at the moment,” the representative said while paramedics were working on Collins.
”We are obviously very upset and shocked.”
An eyewitness said the incident happened a few minutes after the race winner was announced.
“They’d just announced the winner and everyone was standing around - then there was a scream. I turned around and he’s collapsed to the ground.”
The outdoor event was attended by a number of high-profile Aucklanders including Dave Letele, The Hits host Matty McLean and Seven Sharp anchor Hilary Barry.
Letele has been beside Collins, as paramedics and emergency staff including firefighters keep providing medical treatment to him.
A witness said as emergency services arrived, many of the participants and event staff became emotional.
“There were lots of tears and everyone was hugging each other.”
Collins was taking part in a water run race in Te Komititanga Square outside Commercial Bay to raise awareness and money for clean drinking water to children in the Pacific Contestants raced each other around a course carrying two filled buckets of water, with the person with the most water deemed the champion.
Collins was elected to the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board in 2013 and became its chairperson. Three years later he was elected to the Auckland Council as one of two councillors for the Manukau ward. At the 2022 local body elections, he stood for the mayoralty as an independent with the backing of the Labour Party and outgoing Mayor Phil Goff, where he was the runner-up to Wayne Brown.
He was elected to Parliament as a Green Party MP at the 2023 election.
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