Jim Anderton and wife rescue injured man

Jim Anderton

Cabinet minister Jim Anderton has been commended by police after his quick actions saved the life of a homeless man.

The 67-year-old Progressives leader and his wife Carole found the man with blood gushing from his arm in the middle of a Sydenham street in Christchurch as they drove home about 9pm on Tuesday.

The man had cut an artery when he jumped through the window of a Selwyn St home to escape an attack. He then stumbled about 100m - as blood gushed from his arm - down the street, and into the path of the Andertons' car.

Mr Anderton used his wife's possum and merino fur scarf and his own silk tie as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding, while his wife called emergency services. The Andertons also used a bundle of clothes they were planning to deliver to a charity shop to further slow the bleeding.

Mr Anderton said he had feared for the man's life. "He was losing blood like Niagara Falls. I didn't think he was going to live," he said.

The man passed out before emergency services arrived. He was taken to Christchurch Hospital.

Police have said the man could have died if the Andertons had not come to his rescue.

"He was really lucky members of the public assisted him and tried to stop the bleeding," said Detective Sergeant William McIvor.

The man was discharged from hospital yesterday after surgery to repair the cut artery.

- NZPA