Ten people who played crucial roles in thwarting a Dunedin supermarket stabber’s frenzied attack have been honoured for their selfless acts.
Luke Lambert, 45, walked into the central Countdown store at 2.35pm on May 10, 2021, and within mere minutes he had taken knives from a shelf and left four people with severe injuries.
All those involved were certain: had it not been for the courage and quick-thinking of the supermarket staff, off-duty police and members of the public who intervened, there would undoubtedly have been fatalities.
Now, more than three and a-half years later, their contributions are being recognised through the New Zealand Bravery Awards.
Of the 35 recipients from around the country, 10 are Otago-based.
Jorge Fuenzalida, a Corrections officer, will receive the most prestigious honour, the New Zealand Bravery Star, along with former store supervisor Dallas Wilson, who was first on the scene and seriously wounded.
Mr Fuenzalida was shopping at the time when he heard the commotion coming from the pharmacy aisle.
Lambert, who had already attacked two supermarket workers, stabbed him in the neck and he still fought back, trying to protect his wife, Vanessa Miller-Andrews, even as he bled profusely.
He said he was "humbled" by the award, but said his partner, who was also stabbed as she shielded him from further injury, was the real hero.
Also among the bravery recipients were unsung stars.
Hope Clayton was at the checkout when she heard a "piercing scream".
As others sprinted for the exits, she waded into the melee.
"As soon as I turned the corner it was pretty awful ... just full on what the man was doing," she told the Otago Daily Times.
"I just ran to the back of him and just struck him in the back of the head with my phone. It was all I had. I didn’t think to grab anything."
When the magnitude of the danger dawned on her, she backed away and yelled "man with a knife" and "evacuate" to alert other shoppers.
She will be awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal and said the recognition brought an outpouring of emotion.
"I was over the moon, I was in heaven; tears of joy, I couldn’t believe it," she said.
Two former Countdown employees were less convinced when they were contacted by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Meli Balenivalu thought it was a prank and ex-store manager Ron Andrew was playing golf and refused to answer a call from a private number.
They were since coming to terms with the fact they would be heading to Wellington next year when the Governor-General would present them with their medals.
Mr Balenivalu confronted Lambert early in the incident and allowed Mr Wilson to escape, while Mr Andrew ran down from his office and helped pin the attacker down.
Both men agreed they were acting on pure instinct.
"It was all just spur of the moment, adrenaline," Mr Balenivalu said.
In true hero style they each heaped praise on others involved in stifling the attack, particularly off-duty police officers who were shopping at the time.
Sergeant Sophie Allison, along with Detective Jeremy Toschi, played a key role in subduing Lambert and controlling his arms as he thrashed around.
The officers will be adding their medal to a Police Association Bravery Award they each received in 2022.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon also passed on his congratulations in a statement yesterday.
"It is inconceivable that such an attack could happen in broad daylight as people went about their daily business. That members of the public — ordinary people — went to the aid of the victim with no thought for their own safety makes me very proud to be a New Zealander," he said.
Despite living with the ongoing physical and psychological effects of the attack, Mr Fuenzalida said he would do it all over again.
"I don’t think I could have lived with myself not reacting to that," he said. "The guilt of not having done anything I think would have been a lot worse."
His wife, Ms Miller-Andrews, said it was simple.
"The more we help each other, the safer we are going to be."
What they did
Bravery Star: Jorge Fuenzalida
• Heard a scream while shopping, found Luke Lambert struggling with two staff members.
•Wrestled with the attacker in attempt to disarm him, was stabbed in the neck, broke his wrist as he fell.
•Despite his injuries, crawled in to protect his wife, Vanessa Miller-Andrews, and was stabbed again
Bravery Star: Dallas Wilson
•Countdown supervisor, first to intervene after Lambert attacked another staff member
•Pulled the offender away, held him by the upper body, was stabbed three times in the abdomen and once in the pelvis
Bravery decoration: Vanessa Miller-Andrews
• Followed her husband, Jorge Fuenzalida, to investigate a scream from pharmacy aisle
• Tried to drag her partner away after he was attacked, she was stabbed and then shielded Mr Fuenzalida’s body to protect him from further injury
Bravery Medal: Sergeant Sophie Allison
• Off-duty police officer tried to restrain Lambert, was struck in the head
• Used a plastic chair to pin him down, lay on top of him, controlled his arms to ensure he was unable to attack others
Bravery Medal: Ronald Andrew
• Countdown store manager, dashed down from his office when he heard screaming
• Called emergency services and helped pin Lambert down as he struggled with police, kicked a knife away
Bravery Medal: Meli Balenivalu
• Countdown worker grabbed Lambert's wrist, was shoved into shelves
• Pushed the stabber away, allowing Dallas Wilson to flee
• Directed shoppers to exits
Bravery Medal: Hope Clayton
• Shopping with family when she heard a scream, saw Lambert stabbing supermarket employee
• Struck the offender twice in the back of the head with her cellphone, yelled “man with a knife” to alert others
Bravery Medal: Ryan Ramsay
• Supermarket employee, assisted in disarming Lambert
• Took off his jersey and applied pressure to victims' wounds
Bravery Medal: Pamela Thompson
• Countdown worker, took plastic chair from pharmacy area, threw it at Lambert
• Knelt on offender's back, grabbed his right hand to control knife until he let go of it
Bravery Medal: Detective Jeremy Toschi
• Off-duty police officer, grabbed items from shelves and threw them at Lambert to distract him
• Dragged one of the victims away to prevent further injury, restrained the offender until back-up arrived
