Victim a 'wonderful bloke'

Chiropractor was a great family man

WARWICK RASMUSSEN

Bruce Whittingham can't believe his good mate and colleague is gone.

The Gold Coast-based chiropractor was friends with Brett Ireland, 50, who was killed along with Palmerston North doctor Ralph Saxe on Monday when the aerobatic plane they were in crashed into Feilding's Timona Park.

Speaking from Australia, Dr Whittingham said everyone who knew Dr Ireland was "absolutely shellshocked" at the news.

"He's just such a wonderful bloke. He was the most genuine guy you would ever want to meet. I can't think of anyone nicer."

Dr Ireland, his wife Janine, and family, moved to the Gold Coast from Palmerston North in 2002 after living and working in Manawatu for 18 years.

Dr Whittingham said Dr Ireland, a fellow chiropractor, was his "wine o'clock buddy" – the two would regularly catch up for a couple of glasses of red wine on a Friday evening and "solve the world's problems for an hour and a half each week".

He said his friend was a great family man. "His kids don't know what's going on, it's just terrible. His life revolved around his family."

In a professional sense, Dr Whittingham said you couldn't ask for more. "He had a great practice here, a great set up. He was really pro-active in everything he did. He will really be missed."

Dr Ireland was in New Zealand with his wife for a family friend's wedding.

His family issued a statement, speaking of a man who was charismatic and touched many lives.

Dr Ireland was one of the founding members of the New Zealand College of Chiropractors.

"The chiropractic community in New Zealand and Australia are reeling from this tragic loss," the statement said.

Another Gold Coast chiropractor and friend of Dr Ireland's, Luke Hennessy, paid tribute to his colleague. "We should have been competitors, but he was very unselfish and welcomed me with open arms.

"He was all about chiropractors working together better for patients. He really wanted to unify us all."

Dr Hennessy said Dr Ireland was extremely well-respected in his field, across Australia. "I knew of him and his reputation when I was practising in Perth."

He said his friend was at a time in his life when he was really enjoying it. Dr Ireland would often return to New Zealand – usually in January, while his business partner, Josie Barnes, kept running their Gold Coast Chiropractic Centre.

Dr Hennessy visited New Zealand last year and while in Taupo came across former patients of Dr Ireland. "They couldn't say enough about him. He helped a lot of people."

Palmerston North couple Steve and Linda Rowe contacted the Manawatu Standard to share their memories of Dr Ireland. Both were patients of his in the early 1990s.

"He wasn't just a highly innovative practitioner," Mr Rowe said, "but offered a warm and friendly environment and he built up a lot of public confidence in that profession.

"He kept me walking and working through a difficult period of back problems and we held him in the highest regard."

A close friend and patient of Dr Ireland's for 10 years, Gold Coast man Victor Chambers also contacted the Manawatu Standard to express his sorrow and share his last words with Dr Ireland.

"The very last words that I said to Brett were 'fly safe and don't forget to come back'. Imagine how I feel now," he said.

"This man had the best personality and charm of anyone I have ever known, and it hurts deep down to know that I won't ever be able to talk to him ... ever again."

On his own website, Dr Ireland wrote that a visit to a chiropractor at a young age changed his life and determined his profession. He was studying to be an industrial engineer, but to study in the United States to become a chiropractor.

- © Fairfax NZ News