Waitakere honours its reluctant hero

Parking officer Pes Fa'aui remains a reluctant hero, despite receiving a citation for bravery for subduing a man after a fatal knife attack in west Auckland last month.

The mayoral citation, presented at a Waitakere City Council meeting, pays tribute to Mr Fa'aui's "outstanding bravery, above and beyond the call of duty".

The incident happened on November 28, when a 34-year-old man stabbed two others in Henderson.

One of the victims, Kevan Bruce Newman, 65, died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

The attacker was shot by police, but continued to advance before he was tackled by Mr Fa'aui and subdued.

Mr Fa'aui, 35, said the label "hero" has been bestowed on him many times since then.

"But that term is not for me," he said, after receiving his award from Mayor Bob Harvey on Wednesday night.

He was humbled by the award, adding that he believed the real heroes were people like emergency services staff, who dealt with incidents daily, many of which the public did not hear about.

Mr Fa'aui also acknowledged the victims of the attack and Mr Newman's grieving family.

A 34-year-old unemployed man faces charges that include murder as a result of the attack in Railside Ave.

- NZPA