John MacDonald: How could anyone turn a blind eye to this?

Some days you hear about something which absolutely beggars belief. Today is one of those days.

You hear about something that makes you wonder what the hell has happened to society. Sometimes it can be overseas. Or it can be something here in New Zealand. Today is one of those days.

Because I am blown away by this coroner’s report which has just come out, into the death of a four-year-old girl in a public fountain in Tauranga in May 2023.

Coroners are quite measured in the words they use and coroner Matthew Bates is no different, saying today that he’s “troubled” by a particular aspect of this tragedy.

I’m reading that as code for “appalled”. Because, even though four people could see four-year-old Nia Lohchab lying face down in the water, not one of them did anything to get her out.

The coroner knows that because CCTV footage shows there were four people near the fountain, but not one of them did anything.

One of them got on their phone - presumably calling emergency services - but then left her in the water.

The coroner says it’s unlikely that the outcome would have been any different if they had got her out. But what does it say about our society? What does it say about us?

To put it bluntly, it tells me that we’ve become a bunch of lamos. What other conclusion can you come to?

So Nia was at Memorial Park, in Tauranga, with her grandfather and her younger sister just over two years ago. It was three days before her fifth birthday.

She ran towards the fountain and her little sister ran in a different direction. So the grandfather went after the younger child first, as most people would.

That was just after 20-to-10 in the morning. At 9:49AM, a member of the public called emergency services saying there was a child face down in the water. But neither that person, nor three others in the area, did anything to get her out.

Four minutes later, police arrived, found her motionless, got her out, started giving CPR, but they couldn’t save her.

In his report, coroner Matthew Bates says - of the four people near the fountain at the time - at least three of them were clearly aware that NIa was there and that she was lying face down in the water. And they left her there. What the hell have we come to?

He says he is “troubled by the fact that none of the members of the public who observed nia face down and motionless in the water removed her from the fountain immediately”.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. Because here’s another example of how lame people have got when it comes to helping out.

A chap was driving near The Palms shopping mall, in Christchurch, the other week and was T-boned by another driver. After the crash, not one person came to check he was ok.

Some people in the gym came outside to have a look. Then went back inside. No one came to help or, at the very least, check if he needed any help.

So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that people who saw this little girl lying face down in the fountain did nothing to get her out.

But it is appalling and it shows how we have become a society that doesn’t care as much as it used to.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Do you know some days, some days you hear about
something which absolutely beggars belief? And today is one of
those days. You hear about something, you know, you hear
about something which makes you wonder what the hell's happened
to society. Sometimes it can be something overseas, or it

(00:35):
can be something here in New Zealand, and when it
happens here you might be the same, it feels even worse.
And today is one of those days, because this morning
I am absolutely blown away by this coroner's report which
has just come out looking into the death of a

(00:58):
four year old girl in a public fountain in toydunger
in May twenty twenty three. Now, Koren is by their
nature and because of their job, they're quite measured, aren't they,
and the words they use, and Coroner Matthew Bates is
no different, saying today that he is quote troubled, troubled

(01:22):
by a particular aspect of this tragedy. Now I'm reading
that as code for appalled. I'm reading it as code
for maybe even shocked, because guess what, even though four
people could see this little girl lying face down in

(01:44):
the water. Not one of them did anything to get
her out. No one came to this little girl's help.
And the coroner knows that because CCTV footage shows there
were four people near the fountain, but not one of

(02:06):
them did anything to help her or to get her out.
She was in the water, face down, No bugger helped.
One of them got on the phone, now presumably that
was to call emergency services, but then got off the
phone and left her in the water. Now, the coroner says,

(02:29):
it's unlikely the outcome would have been any different if
they had got her out, if they had done the
right thing, or done more than just ring emergency services.
But what do you think this says about our society?
What do you think it says about us? Well, I'm
going to I'm going to put it bluntly. It tells

(02:52):
me that we have become a bunch of lame hoods
in this country. I mean, what other what other conclusion
can you come to? So what happened is little near
low Charb was at Memorial Park and Twinger with her
grandfather and her younger sister. It was just over two
years ago and it was three days before Nea would

(03:13):
have turned five, and she ran towards this fountain, which,
by the way, looks just like any other fountain, any
fountain you might see in the botanic gardens in Christchurch.
And she ran towards the fountain, and at the same
time her little sister ran in a different direction. So
the grandfather, I mean, he did what most of us,
if not all of us, would do when after the

(03:35):
younger child first. So that was just after twenty to
ten in the morning, at nine forty nine. A member
of the public called emergency services saying there was a
child face down in the water, but neither that person
nor three others in the area did anything to get
her out. Four minutes later police arrived. They found emotionless,

(03:59):
god her out, started giving CPR, but they couldn't save her. Now.
In his report, coroner Matthew Bates says, of the four
people near the fountain at the time, at least three
of them were clearly aware that Nea was there and
that she was lying face down in the water, and

(04:19):
they left her there. What the hell have we come to?
What have we come to? And the coroner says, he
is quote troubled. Is that word again? Troubled. This is
quote from his report. He's troubled by the fact that
none of the members of the public who observed Na
facedown and motionless in the water. None of them removed

(04:42):
her from the fountain immediately, none of them. And maybe
maybe we shouldn't be surprised, because here's another example of
how lame people have got when it comes to helping up.
I heard this morning about a chap in christ Church
who was crashed into near the Palms shopping mall in

(05:04):
christ Church the other week. So owned, do you know what,
Not one person came to check he was okay. Some
people in the gym nearby, or they poked their heads
out to have a nosey have a look, then they
went back inside. No one came to help or at
the very least check if he needed any help. So

(05:28):
maybe we shouldn't be surprised that the four people who
saw this little girl lying face down on the fountain
did nothing to get her out. I'll tell you what.
It is absolutely appalling, and it shows me how much
we have become a society that doesn't care as much
as it used to. That's my reading of it.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
For more from Caterbory, Mornings with John McDonald. Listen live
to news talks It'd be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio