Ashburton man, Alan Manhire, right, suffered a brain haemorrhage while trying to stop a pair of thieves steal cigarettes from a local service station.
Ashburton man, Alan Manhire, right, suffered a brain haemorrhage while trying to stop a pair of thieves steal cigarettes from a local service station.
Alan Manhire had been patrolling his town's rural streets for three years when he was suddenly struck down with a brain haemorrhage.
And it all started after waking up in the middle of the night and noticing strange vehicles in the streets of Mayfield, near Ashburton, that spurred a sudden urge to protect local businesses.
While not a business owner himself, he's a truck driver for Ashburton Contracting Ltd, he didn't like seeing the few businesses and homes in the town getting struck by burglars.
But Manhire's good deeds have now come at a huge cost to his family.
His wife, Deb, said he suffered a brain haemorrhage during the stress of trying to catch two guys who had just robbed the Mayfield Service Station of cigarettes.
It's means he's off work and unlikely to get back behind the wheel for at least 12 months, due to NZTA guidelines, and even then a neurological assessment would need to be carried out.
He's currently recovering in Ashburton Hospital.
Deb Manhire was now worried how they would survive financially so she'd set up a Givealittle page to help them get by as he recovers.
She said the buzz her husband got in helping prevent a robbery of the local dairy three years ago, spurred him on.
Even from his hospital bed, he had told her that he would get back out on the streets once he was well enough.
Being a truck driver with odd shifts, he was often up early anyway, so would take the time to spend either 10 minutes or half an hour making sure all was well in his area before going to work, or when he woke in the middle of the night.
Local police had told them the black market for cigarettes had been the driver for an increase in crime, especially during the past three months.
One time he was questioned by a couple of undercover police, carrying out an operation in the area, wondering if he in fact was responsible.
The quiet streets of Mayfield, west of Ashburton, are no longer being patrolled by voluntary crime fighter and now brain bleed victim, Alan Manhire. Photo / Google
Instead they learned he was not only the local night time crime fighting resident, simply out to make sure all is well, but the brother of a senior Canterbury policeman.
When asked why he didn't leave it to police to monitor crime, Manhire said there were simply not enough cops to always be in the Mayfield area.
While debilitating, both personally and financially, the brain haemorrhage wasn't so much of a surprise after Alan Manhire had been detected with high blood pressure during a routine health check at work.
However, the family had been disappointed he appeared to have been misdiagnosed by his local doctor who had attributed the blood pressure to a condition he already had, kidney stones.
