Editorial: The hope amid the tragedy

The remarkable survival of Thames the dog in the wilderness is a little spark of hope in the dark.

Amid the news of tragedy right now it's important to also note a few rays of light shining through.

It has been a horror few days in which a huge number of people were killed or injured on the nation's roads, and two young men, one just 15, died in hunting incidents.

Of course one death is too many, but such wholesale, senseless loss of life is almost too much to process.

There's the kneejerk search for reasons and answers, and calls for change and new safety measures.

It's important to have these conversations, but it's also important to have confidence that the best actions and systems have already been put in place and it didn't take a tragedy for the right thing to be done.

Whether we can have that confidence is another matter.

The only good thing that can come out of these deaths is that somewhere, at some point, because lessons were learned, someone else won't suffer.

It's just that sometimes a road crash, for example, can't be put down to speed, drink-driving, fatigue or road conditions. Sometimes it's as simple as a tragic mistake, a moment's inattention or bad decision.

On that depressing note, one story at the weekend would have brought a smile to the hardest-hearted. Thames the police dog had been missing in the Tararua Ranges for a week in trying conditions.

After days of searching the rugged terrain with no sign, hope must have been fading - though in an interview published on Saturday Thames' handler Constable Mike Wakefield was optimistic and full of resolve to find him.

Then on Sunday came the fantastic news that Thames had been found. This was followed yesterday by news that a woman who had gone missing while trail running in Rimutaka Park on Sunday had been found. Susan O'Brien spent Sunday night lost in the bush. When she emerged from the bush yesterday, she said the night was cold and wet and she thought she was going to die.

Emergency services and search and rescue volunteers deserve a huge pat on the back for their efforts dealing with the events of the past few days.

It's not always a happy ending, but we're all grateful and relieved when it is.