Grace
Tinetali-Fiavaai, RNZ Pacific
Journalist
The widow of late Green Party MP Fa’anānā
Efeso Collins is calling for an inquest into his death,
accusing the organisers of the charity event he was
attending at the time of failing him.
Fa’anānā Efeso
Collins died in
February last year after suffering a cardiac arrest at a
charity event in Auckland’s Britomart.
He, along with
other celebrities, had spent the morning racing with water
buckets to raise awareness of clean drinking water in the
Pacific, for ChildFund.
A case management conference
was held on Wednesday, at the Auckland Specialist Courts and
Tribunals, to consider whether there should be an
inquest.
Vasa Fia Collins told the hearing she had
many questions about the circumstances surrounding her
husband’s death.
Vasa said she does not believe that
everything possible was done to protect and save him, and
asked that the unanswered questions be addressed with a
thorough in-person coronial inquest.
“I’ve carried
this weight, responsibility, silently for 399
days.
“One of the most piercing parts of Efeso’s death
is knowing that he didn’t die amongst family or friends. I
wish we had been there to love him, to protect his dignity
and wairua the way he deserved and the way he would have
done for others.
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“At the very least, if we could be
assured that everything possible had been done to protect
and save Efeso, it would bring our family some peace and
closure.
“But from what I have heard from recent
eyewitnesses. I do not believe that was the case. That is
why I’m here. I’m here today to ask that these unanswered
questions be addressed. I ask for your help by conducting a
thorough in person inquest.
Coroner
Janet Anderson said there were uncertainties regarding the
response to Collins’ collapse, stating:
“Essentially
there is some uncertainty around whether (a) perhaps where
the defibrillator came from, (b) whether the timing we’re
talking about is two minutes or five minutes.
“I think
there’s an essential question that’s very relevant to my
ability to even consider making recommendations or inquiring
into some of these issues in more detail about whether, what
the significance of those potential time frames are,”
Anderson said.
Counsel for Vasa Collins, Dr Max
Harris, indicated they possess footage and eyewitness
statements which may shed light on these
uncertainties.
Anderson acknowledged she was not aware
that they existed until receiving the submissions.
“So
I think it’s very important at this point that you and other
interested parties have an opportunity to provide me with
any further information that addresses these issues that
have been identified, then my thoughts are that I would
probably seek expert cardiology and resuscitation advice on
the relevance of those points, before considering we might
go further,” Anderson said.
She wanted that
information by the end of April.
Counsel for ChildFund
NZ, Tania Goatley, said they appreciated the coroner’s
decision to seek further clarification but were confident
all necessary health and safety measures were put in place
on the day.
“Although Child Fund had not itself run
this particular version of this event prior, it did hire
Campbell and Co, which is an extremely experienced event
management company, to ensure that everything was done as it
should have been,” Goatley said.
“We had thought it
was clear that in fact what happened on the day was that the
chain of command was followed as it should have been. There
was a standard protocol in place.”
Campbell and
Company, the events company who worked with ChildFund on
this event, said they did not have anything to add at this
point.
In the conference Vasa Collins criticised the
charity, arguing: “ChildFund took their eye off health and
safety because they assumed the run was harmless.
“Yet
medical experts have since advised that carrying 10 litres
of water in buckets consistently was neither minimal nor
risk free. Especially for someone like
Efeso.
“ChildFunds’ blase attitude toward the physical
demands of the race resulted in too few or no safeguards
being put in place,” she told the coroner.
On the day
Collins died, six celebrities, including Hilary Barry and
Dave Letele, competed in a race to support efforts for safe
drinking water for Pacific children.
Each participant
carried two buckets of water, each containing 5 litres,
while having to run or walk 15 laps.
The winner was
the one with the most water left at the finish
line.
Collins completed the course and at the end
stood in a corner where he was then seen to have
collapsed.
Collins was elected chairperson of the
Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board in 2013 and became one of two
councillors for the Manukau ward on the Auckland Council in
2016.
He was chairperson of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe
Local Board, a councillor for the Manukau ward, and a
recently elected member of Parliament for the Green
Party.
As part of Samoan tradition, families typically
conduct an unveiling ceremony a year after a loved one’s
passing.
Vasa Collins expressed her desire to wait
until they achieved closure and answers regarding
Fa’anānā’s death before proceeding with the
ceremony.
“I think once we turn a leaf and we have
that closure and those answers, then we’ll be able to plan
for an unveiling and to give him the ma’a (headstone) that
he deserves and celebrate his life wholly,” she
said.
“It is about restoring trust in our
institutions, providing cultural and community closure,
allowing my family to heal, and ensuring that nothing like
this ever happens again. I do not want anyone else to suffer
the way my children and I have
suffered.”
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