'He's always my hero, it's in his nature'

TONY WALL

They referred to him on the internet as "New Zealand's superman", the "human digger", and a "true Kiwi hero". But no one knew who he was.

As the days went by, his actions after Tuesday's quake – flinging huge concrete blocks around like they were polystyrene – took on cult status, and a Facebook page in his honour christened him "the Incredibro Hulk".

The Sunday Star-Times can reveal the mystery hero is Samoa-born Ahsei Sopoaga, a 40-year-old father of five from Little River near Akaroa, who was in the Christchurch CBD with his wife Suzanne when the quake hit.

Footage of Ahsei hauling slabs out of the rubble in Manchester St as he was desperately trying to get to a trapped man has gone around the world.

Incredibly shy, he plays down his actions. "It was just some things that were on top of him and had to be removed," he tells the Star-Times yesterday. "I'm really not sure how heavy it was."

Sadly, the trapped man, believed to be barman Jaime Gilbert, 22, later died. His sister Amy, who was pinned in the rubble and held her brother's hand, survived.

Ahsei, a fulltime father, and Suzanne had gone to Richmond to attend a parenting course, and then drove into the CBD to see a friend, when the quake hit.

"There was a lot of confusion and screaming going on. I just tried to help out as best I could," Sopoaga said.

They found a dead tourist and could do nothing for her, so kept going.

They came to the corner of Manchester and Gloucester Sts and saw some people crowded around rubble, trying to get to a trapped man.

"I saw some of them struggling to get a couple of the big blocks off," Ahsei says. "Not many people came and helped so I just had to get in there. I just instinctively got in there and pulled those out. I was concerned about the guy because his sister was yelling out for him." Suzanne says an aftershock hit, sending most of the rescuers scrambling for cover, but her husband ran back in.

"A police officer was yelling out 'he's still got a pulse, he's still got a pulse'. Ahsei ran back in after the aftershock hit. I'm screaming from the sideline, telling him to come back.

"I thought the building could come down at any time. I had three kids to get back to an hour's drive from town."

TV footage shows facades of buildings falling down as Ahsei and others worked furiously, while survivors walked by covered in blood and dust.

Ahsei said Jaime was still alive when he reached him. "I grabbed his hand, and he wrapped his little finger around mine. I was trying to encourage him that we were there and were trying the best we could to get him out of there. There was no reply, he was so badly broken up. I don't think he made it," he says.

He helped carry Jaime to a nearby van, which took him and his sister away. After that, Ahsei was desperate to get home to his children, and they left town.

Ahsei said he did not work out at the gym – his children kept him fit – and believed adrenalin had helped him lift the slabs. Suzanne said she was proud of him. "He's always my hero, he was my hero before this. It's in his nature, it's just who he is. He's the type of person who would help anyone out. All he wants out of this is that Jaime be remembered."

In Australia, Sydney paper the Daily Telegraph singled out Ahsei, saying the images of his rescue attempts "are destined to remain forever in the minds of all who witnessed them".

- © Fairfax NZ News