Good deed 'solace' for death

BY NICOLA BRENNAN

A small garden grows at the entrance to Richard and Greta Hemming's Matamata dairy farm.

A carpet of bright, multi-coloured flowers surrounds two small kauri trees, the centre piece of the garden. Beside them a sign reads "Austin's kauris".

It's a sobering image. It is just over 14 months since the Hemmings' son, Austin, was killed while going to the aid of a woman involved in an altercation in downtown Auckland.

Just after 5pm on September 25, 2008, the NZI manager heard a woman scream for help in Mills Lane, a few metres from Queen St.

He rushed to her assistance, but was stabbed in the chest while doing so.

Austin Hemmings died within seconds as bystanders frantically tried to get his heart going again and to stop the bleeding.

Pauesi Leofa Brown was charged with his murder and will go on trial in November next year.

Mr and Mrs Hemmings will never forget the day they took the phone call saying Austin had been stabbed.

They clung to the hope he would be OK, but were soon informed their son had not survived.

Mrs Hemmings eyes fill with tears as she remembers that day.

Her eldest son Craig Hemmings, of Cambridge, said the worst thing for him was seeing his brother lying dead on the street, in a tent, the next day.

"That hit me quite hard and still does," Craig said.

But the family have taken some solace that Austin died being a "good samaritan".

"It was just so apt. I couldn't imagine him not going to her aid," Mrs Hemmings said. "He always wanted to help others."

The family were overwhelmed by the support they received from Austin's friends and colleagues, as well as complete strangers.

Austin's wife Jenny, and his three teenage children, received about 1000 cards and letters from complete strangers following his very public death.

Austin's Hamilton friends, who did not know his parents that well before Austin's death, still drive to Matamata to visit the couple and make sure they're doing OK.

Mr Hemmings said he was very proud of his son and the impact his life and death had on others.

"Your own son is just your little boy, but I've learnt that he was a pretty able cookie. I'm awfully proud."

A year to the day after his death, on September 25 this year, the family visited to the lane in which he died.

They laid wreaths before going to the new NZI headquarters at Auckland's Viaduct.

There, yet again, they saw the impact Austin had had on those around him. The main boardroom is named after him – "Hemmings" is written on a 2.4-metre-high sign erected at the entrance to the room.

Part of the inscription reads: "He was a giant amongst us that stepped in without hesitation to protect a woman in need one night and lost his own life. His courage was testimony to the type of man he was – but he was already our hero".

The couple said the past 14 months had not been easy, but they were slowly getting on with their lives.

"I have good memories of him and that's what keeps me going," Mrs Hemmings said.

Mr Hemmings said grief and tragedy were something everyone went through.

He remembers, as a young boy, during the war, reading pages and pages of names of dead young men.

"Those were rough days, at least we had our bloke till he was in his 40s. Everyone experiences some sort of grief like that, but it's important not to get bitter."

Craig Hemmings was very proud of his younger brother's actions on the day he was killed.

"It will never bring him back, but it's some recompense, I guess, for the heartache. "

Craig likes to remember his brother in his own way. When Austin was killed, he helped Jenny go through her husband's clothes. A pair of Austin's jandals now sit in the bottom of his closet.

"So every morning when I open the cupboard I think of him."

- © Fairfax NZ News