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A Northland man’s bank cards and his wife’s wallet were stolen as paramedics resuscitated him on the side of the road after a crash in Tauranga, his family says.
The theft has been described as “disgusting” and “despicable behaviour” by his daughter, who questioned: “How is that okay?”
Andrew and Marion Mckenzie towed their caravan from Waipū on Friday. After doing some shopping on Monday, they crashed near the Tauranga Harbour Bridge.
Daughter Nicole Jennings said her mum noticed her dad, who was driving, started veering towards the concrete median.
“She turned to look at him and he was blue in the face and he was limp. He wasn’t breathing.”
“She managed to veer off the motorway, narrowly missing any passers-by, and used the handbrake to stop.”
Another motorist helped Marion get Andrew out of the car, which allowed her to clear his airways and start performing CPR before the ambulance, police and fire service arrived.
Nicole said paramedics took over from her mum to administer CPR and “somewhere in among all that time while he was being resuscitated, someone went into their car”.
“They picked through their things and took Mum’s wallet out of her bag, took Dad’s credit cards out of his phone wallet and left his phone,” she said.
Andrew, aged 67, was taken to Tauranga Hospital in an ambulance and the police followed with Marion.
Andrew Mckenzie was recovering in Tauranga Hospital after the crash. Photo / George Novak
Nicole said a few hours after the crash, the bank contacted her mum about unusual activity with regard to the couple’s credit card, and that was when Marion discovered it was gone, along with her wallet.
She said about $600 had been siphoned from their accounts and spent at various places, including a vape shop and service station.
“To be honest, I’m disgusted”, Nicole told the Bay of Plenty Times on Wednesday.
“I don’t understand the thinking behind a person like that. It’s despicable behaviour. I mean, you never know what someone’s circumstances are.
“But it should never be that bad - when you’re stealing from the vulnerable, and potentially someone who is on the side of their road and could lose their life. How is that okay?”
She said her mum was “still in shock”.
“I don’t think she’s quite [absorbed the theft’s impact] yet, because what she went through in particular, and saving Dad, was extremely traumatic.”
Andrew McKenzie in Mount Maunganui before the accident.
Her mum planned to report the theft to the police this week.
Her father was in good spirits in the cardiac care unit, but Nicole said trying to sort things out with the bank and the logistics of getting the caravan back to Waipū were unnecessary stresses.
“They are frazzled - very, very frazzled.”
A police spokesman said officers responded to a single-vehicle crash on Te Awanui Drive which was reported at 11.35am on Monday.
“It appears the driver may have [suffered] a medical event, and is reported to have been transported to hospital in a serious condition.”
A Hato Hone St John spokesman said an ambulance and rapid response unit responded to the crash.
One patient was assessed by the crew at the scene and transported to Tauranga Hospital in a moderate condition, he said.
A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesperson said two crews attended and helped to provide traffic control.
Carmen Hall is a news director for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, covering business and general news. She has been a Voyager Media Awards winner and a journalist for 25 years.
