Editorial: Heroes need a share of luck

OPINION: Most people like to think that they have the potential to act heroically; or at least that they will not freeze completely in times of great adversity.

Who wouldn't want to be the hero who saves the day or the person brave enough to stand up for what they know is right?

When faced with reality, however, actions do not always match up with a person's romantic notions.

It is why virtually everyone cheers when they see someone perform something they wish they were capable of. Take, for instance, the Hamilton man who wrestled with a female intruder in Nawton last week. He held the young woman until police arrived despite being bitten repeatedly by her and stabbed by a second burglar. The reaction of readers of the Waikato Times to that story has generally been: Good on you, mate.

However, the man, who the paper agreed not to name, knows the outcome could have been a lot more serious for him. Doctors have told him the steak knife used to assault him nearly punctured a lung. Had it done so, death was a possibility. The man, his pregnant wife and their two-year-old daughter have already decided to move from the rental house, so unnerved are they by the incident. Injury and the life-changing decision to move house have been the realities of this case.

Bearing that in mind, the predictable response from police was entirely appropriate. City area commander Inspector Rob Lindsay called for people to be careful when confronting burglars. "We would prefer people capture details and descriptions rather than place themselves at risk," he said.

That little piece of advice, though, fired up Hamilton city councillor Dave Macpherson, not one who has ever needed a loaded gun to enter a shootout. Mr Macpherson said: "The lack of police resources, and an all-too-frequent disorganised police response, often force the community to take the law into its own hands."

It is easy to point the finger of blame at the thinly stretched blue line, though the simple fact is police have never been better resourced – it has been a pledge upheld by successive governments – but with the country the most lawless it has ever been, they are fighting a losing battle.

In relation to the Nawton incident, the comments of both Mr Lindsay and Mr Macpherson are irrelevant in many ways. People like the Nawton man who was asleep when burglars broke in last week act on instinct. They are caught in a horrific moment and adrenalin takes over. Sometimes it will end as right-thinking citizens would wish, with offenders behind bars. At other times it will be a disaster, like the time the Auckland man ended up in jail after stabbing to death a young man who put graffiti on his fence.

We don't live in an ideal world. We can plan for the worst, but when it happens there will always be an element of luck in the outcome. The Nawton hero has had his share of good fortune.

- © Fairfax NZ News