Hero wrestled 20-tonne truck

Office worker Anne

It was a last-minute decision. Office worker Anne had little paperwork to do in the Mt Wellington office of trucking company Carr and Haslam, so she decided to pop down to the port with one of the firm's drivers.

The 43-year-old woman had never been to the container wharf, and was keen to see how it worked.

Driver Michael Whiu offered to take her.

But coming back on the Southern Motorway on Thursday afternoon, Mr Whiu, 41, slumped at the wheel and the fully laden rig ran into the median barrier on the Newmarket flyover.

"It was sudden," said Anne, who wanted to be known by only her first name.

"I didn't know until I looked at him and he started to slump. At first I thought a car had cut the truck off, and that's what made me look at him. I just thought, 'I have got to keep this thing in a straight line'."

She leaned across and grabbed the steering wheel. She had no idea whether Mr Whiu was alive.

"All I wanted to do was keep the truck in a straight line and make sure no other vehicles were involved and just get it over to the side where we could stop," she said.

"It never crossed my mind to be scared. I never felt I was in danger. I just knew I had to keep the truck as much in the lane as possible."

As the truck hit the barrier a second time Mr Whiu's foot came off the accelerator and the vehicle, which had been travelling at about 70 to 80km/h, began to slow.

Leaning across the dying man's body Anne switched the indicator on and steered the truck across two lanes of the motorway.

She radioed the depot for help, and the dispatcher asked if she could reach the brake or get the truck out of gear. She couldn't.

"They stayed there with me. They were a voice there with me. That helped."

As motorists tried to keep clear of the rig, another truck cut in front of her.

Kuehne and Nagel truck driver Shane Mahuta was 500m behind when Mr Whiu's truck hit the median barrier.

"Shane came up beside us and cut in fairly close to the truck ... he touched his brake lights and I thought, 'Cool, he's going to stop me'.

"I must have had some sort of sixth sense as to what he wanted me to do ... I just held the truck in a position where we could take the impact on the two structural points of the truck."

The South Auckland woman said the 3.3km ordeal, which ended at the Tecoma St off-ramp, seemed to happen really slowly.

"It's a bit like a toddler falling down stairs. You can see they are going to fall and it seems to take forever but it's only a split second. Time has no reality in a situation like that."

Back at work yesterday, she applauded Mr Mahuta's actions, but was quick to play down her own role.

"I only did what I hope anyone would do if they are in a truck or car, whatever, if the driver had a heart attack. I did what anyone would do."

"People are going, 'Oh wow', but I'm going, 'So?'

No one was injured, I don't feel I did that much and I have lost a workmate. My thoughts are for his family."

Anne described Mr Whiu as a friendly, courteous man who was "very safety conscious".

"One thing I don't want is people saying truckies shouldn't be on the road. That is crap. They do a job, they are good guys they are professionals. There is no way I want any truckies knocked. It was a freak situation, that's all it was."

She was angry at a blond woman who drove past, hung out the window of her car swearing and "giving us the fingers" for what she thought was bad driving.

"I would like to smack her in the head if I ever saw her again."

Yesterday, Mr Whiu's brother Raymond said the family had blessed the truck and were preparing for his tangi at Mataraua, north of Kaikohe.

He described his younger brother as a "nice guy", who was well-liked and lived for truck driving.

"He always had a smiley face and could be a bit of a mischievous bugger at times."

Mr Whiu, who was separated, is survived by two teenage sons, Damian, 15 and Tyrone, 13.

Raymond Whiu said his brother had been taking medication for a condition but he did not know what it was. He was believed to have died from a heart attack.

Mr Whiu's boss, Craig McCarten, said his employee had worked for the company for about five years.

"He was a top guy, very loyal and trustworthy. He was well-respected by his workmates and colleagues."

He praised the actions of Anne and Mr Mahuta.

"That was brilliant. That thing could have got away and caused havoc."

Carr and Haslam general manager Eric Law described Anne's actions as "absolutely magnificent".

"She's a pretty down to earth person, who reacts pretty well under pressure. That was borne out by what happened. She didn't panic and kept her head."

Mr Law said Mr Mahuta had performed a "text book rescue".

A recommendation had been made to police district commander Roger Carson for official recognition of Anne and Mr Mahuta's actions, the first step towards a police commendation.

But Anne, who was back at work yesterday, was reluctant to accept any hero label.

"At the end of the day, I really don't think I did that much."