Two a penny

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A Wanganui rest home resident has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner after bandages were left on her ulcered legs so long that maggots grew in the wounds.

Christine de Roo, 50, from Marton, but now living at Wanganui’s Aubert Home of Compassion, said her dressings should be changed two to three times a week but they were left untouched for 13 days the previous month.

Ms de Roo is wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis and has serious kidney problems and lymphoedema.

When the bandages were finally pulled back, her legs were crawling with maggots, she told the Wanganui Chronicle.

Small cracks in her skin mean there is a high risk of infection and fluid leakage, requiring both legs to be heavily bandaged from her knees to her feet.

The lymphoedema means her legs are often swollen due to a build-up of fluid.

“I was left until March 21.

Ms de Roo said her bandages were changed on March 8 but not again for almost another two weeks. . . By then my legs had become so itchy it was painful and I was desperate to have them done. it was a Saturday afternoon.

It was “the worst kind of nightmare anyone could ever have”, she said.”

A nurse removed the bandage from one leg and discovered the maggots. They were in shock.

Ms de Roo said she would never forget the look on the faces of the nurse and caregiver.

“I never thought I’d ever be fly-blown like an old sheep. .”

She demanded a specimen jar to scrape the maggots into. There were dozens of them – it was revolting. .

“I told her if she didn’t get me one I would scrape them into a cup. and I would’ve too, believe me. . Maggots were found under them too, she said. Maggots were found under them too, she said.

Ms de Roo has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner and is now awaiting his report.

A Ministry of Health investigation and an internal investigation are also being undertaken.

Home of Compassion nurse manager Ruth Portland told the Chronicle that she would not comment on Ms de Roo’s case until the investigations were not completed.

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Boy saves 5-year-old at surf champs

Tuesday, 03 March 2009

/The
YOUNG HERO: Cameron Turchie, 12, of Wellington, rescued a five-year-old after he was swept 200 metres out from shore at a Mt Maunganui beach.

Twelve-year-old Cameron Turchie risked his life to save a five-year-old from drowning in pounding three-metre-high surf, 200 metres from shore.
When the young Lyall Bay surf club member saw a limp, bloodied body being sucked under the water at Mt Maunganui's Main Beach on Sunday, he drew on his five years' surf lifesaving experience and all of his energy to rescue the boy. "I saw blood coming down his face and he was crying and wasn't really moving that much or talking, so I swam over and held him up. . "I had to really fight to stay above the water."
The pair were bashed by the waves, which kept sucking them both under, as they waited for rescuers. I wasn't scared but it was hard work holding him up."
Two lifeguards arrived in an inflatable rescue boat after about five minutes, pulling the limp boy on board and taking him back to the beach, where he was given oxygen and treated by event medical staff and two passing doctors. I was determined not to let go. Another lifeguard had to swim out with a flotation tube to support the young hero till the boat returned.
But the drama was not over for Cameron, who got pounded by the waves for several more minutes.
"He probably would have gone under for good and that could have been the end of it.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand sport manager Mark Weatherall, who was on the beach when the rescue unfolded, said he would hate to think what would have happened if the victim had swallowed another mouthful of water. He's a lucky little fella and Cameron was very brave to put his own life at risk. He's a lucky little fella and Cameron was very brave to put his own life at risk. That experience made all the difference on Sunday."
It wasn't Cameron's first rescue; he helped a friend with breathing difficulties at a surf carnival in Wellington last year."
His mother, Tanya, said she was unbelievably proud of her boy.
"I sort of panicked once I got out there but because I'd done it once before, I guess I knew what to do."

. "It was a brave thing to do, but he just backed himself and didn't even hesitate

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Antonie Dixon was master manipulator

‘Unfettered’ access to drugs and sex with ‘psychologist’ in prison

– Sunday, 08 February 2009

AntonieDixon lived the high life even behind bars – he had "unfettered" access to sex, drugs and other illegal contraband.
And, according to one of the killer's former cellmates, he and Dixon once partied on the drug P for six days straight while they were locked up together at Auckland Central Remand Prison.
has also obtained an until-now-secret police report which details Dixon's prison sex romps with a woman who duped authorities by posing as a registered psychologist.
The close personal friend claimed he and the samurai swordsman consumed more than 15 grams of the class A drug during the binge, smuggled into the prison last November.
Defence lawyers argued Dixon was insane caused by years of horrific abuse as a child.
Dixon was convicted of murder and causing grievous bodily harm in 2005 after he went on a P-fuelled rampage, slashing Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with a samurai sword before gunning down James Te Aute.
But he was again found guilty after a seven-week retrial at Auckland High Court last year.
Dixon was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years until his lawyers successfully appealed the decision.
The confidential 2004 police report revealed Corrections allowed Dixon and the "psychologist" to have one-on-one sessions and how prison authorities were not aware of the locked-up lovefest until guards began hearing "strange noises" coming from the room the pair were using during the 2003 incident. On Thursday Dixon died of suspected suicide on the day he was due to be re-sentenced.
"Staff believed that the relationship between the two is more than strictly professional.
"When the (guards) looked they saw Dixon standing behind and over (the fake psychologist)," the detective who prepared the report wrote.
Police concluded Corrections were oblivious to Dixon's ability to manipulate contraband regulations."
The police probe found the phoney psychologist was in fact a long-time friend of Dixon's and was not only servicing his sexual desires but smuggling drugs and cellphones into his jail.
"(Corrections) were obviously not aware how easy it has been for Dixon to have things brought in or taken out of prison on his behalf although (Corrections) did observe that Dixon could easily obtain items from prisoners in transport who walk past his cell and slip things into him.
The situation was branded a "debacle" and police came to the view Dixon had "unfettered access to cellphones, meth and any visitors he wanted".
Wayne said while Dixon was locked up he devoted a lot of energy to a number of females who would regularly write to and visit him."
Dixon's former cellmate, who has agreed to refer to only as Wayne, said his mate found it easy to give Corrections the run-around.
"They were infatuated by him and that bad-boy image.
He said the crime groupies were so captivated by Dixon's infamy, one had his initials tattooed on her neck.
He said the sexual abuse Dixon suffered as a child no doubt fuelled the almost 170 convictions he amassed before his death."
Wayne said his mate was a victim as much as he was a criminal."
Wayne claims Dixon had issues long before he started puffing P.
"He was a victim of his upbringing and environment and I have no doubt that it was the physical and sexual abuse rather than the P that triggered his paranoia.
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
Wayne said suicide wasn't Dixon's style and he believed if Dixon wanted to end it all, he'd go out "all guns blazing". .
"He certainly wouldn't have been fazed by the fact he was about to be sentenced.
"He had absolutely no remorse for his crimes. They did not bother him."
Wayne said Dixon thrived on his public notoriety and would have been excited at the prospect of a huge media contingent at his High Court sentencing this week.
"He was an attention-seeker. He loved the infamy."
Wayne claimed Corrections officials had washed their hands of Dixon and put him in the "too-hard basket".
Dixon would play mind games with fellow inmates often concocting stories to embarrass them or put them at risk of harm.
The former cellmate said it was a way for Dixon to ease the boredom and occupy his mind.
"(Corrections) didn't want him to go to classes because they would have to double up on the number of guards because of the security risk. They offered him nothing at all."
But despite that, Dixon knew his life hadn't turned out how it could.
Wayne said during his final conversation with his best mate about a week-and-a-half ago, the murderer specifically requested his help with his 15-year-old son to ensure he didn't follow in his father's footsteps.
"That was important to him."
A Corrections spokeswoman last night said, because the department had launched an inquiry into Dixon's death, no comment on the new allegations would be made.

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Toastman talks about living with cancer

Monday, 02 February 2009

/The
BURNING PASSION: Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but Instead of taking it easy he runs two businesses, does his toast art and is rarely home before 8pm.

Wellington businessman and toast artist Maurice Bennett faces a daily battle with leukaemia but has refused to let the disease ruin his life.
When it was diagnosed about 2000, he was given five years to live, but he is still at the helm of Island Bay's New World supermarket and Bennetts Beer, and is working on his biggest toast work. But not anymore," Mr Bennett says.
"I used to keep quiet about it and just tell people I had a cold.
"But the last thing I want is sympathy, someone coming up to me in the pub to say how sorry they are. "We're all going to die at least I know what I'm going to die of."
After being diagnosed, there were sleepless nights wondering why and "screams at God". Despite this he's up at 6am every day to head to the supermarket, then he turns to his toast art in the bakery by late afternoon, and he's rarely home before 8pm. The thought of taking it easy regularly crosses his mind.
Even though he was "crook as a dog" when the All Blacks were turfed out of the last Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, he still made it to Paris and walked down the Champs-Elysees in the black jersey.
With an immune system weakened by the disease, even catching the flu could prove fatal. "The doctors are monitoring my health with regular CT scans and blood tests.
Mr Bennett sees himself as the lucky one. Modern medicine is brilliant. Modern medicine is brilliant. Males in this country need to step up [and get regular checks]. They wake up and find they've got the big C or drop dead at 35. Though the toast art started about the same time as the leukaemia diagnosis, he says that is coincidental."
The New World, which he has run for 15 years with his wife, provides a ready supply of bread and commercial ovens facilitating his toast portraits of Jonah Lomu and the Mona Lisa and helping him set a world record for his 2724-slice mosaic of former Wellington mayor Mark Blumsky. I was artistic before that.
"It's just fallen into place. It's not like I've gone through a blue period because of the leukaemia. I used to do oil painting and sculpture work."If anything, being confronted with his mortality has just clarified beliefs he has always held, and he expects to lead a "normal, healthy life for quite a while". It's not like: `Buy some of Maurice's art because he's about to drop dead'. Life revolves around friendship. Life revolves around friendship. It's not about seeing every place in the world, it's about enjoying what you've got.

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Bill to quit mortgage appealed

By CHARLIE GATES – Tuesday, 28 October 2008

A Christchurch family is appealing against a $15,000 bank charge for ending a five-year fixed-rate mortgage after eight months.
David and Catherine Johnson and their four children moved into a Cashmere house in February on a $270,000 mortgage fixed at 8. They have sold the house to move to Australia, but ending the mortgage early means they face a $15,000 charge.99 per cent interest for five years.
He said there should be a charge for ending the mortgage early, but $15,000 was unreasonable.
David Johnson has appealed to the Office of the Banking Ombudsman and complained to Westpac's Christchurch staff. The main concern is the severity of the repayment.
"We knew there was a penalty involved in a fixed rate.
He also said the potential charges should be set out more clearly by banks. It is just a ridiculous figure," he said. There is a complex formula that all banks use and you just can't follow it.
"It is just not transparent enough."
A Westpac spokesman said bank charges for the early termination of fixed-rate mortgages were higher as a result of the global financial meltdown and credit crunch. We want the bank to be reasonable and negotiate with us.
"It is obviously a tricky time .
"When we set the mortgage we secure the funding in the wholesale market and so the amount is based on the cost of us returning the money at current rates on the wholesale market," he said… This is obviously an example of where it has not been in their favour to break it. It is not something we would enjoy imposing, but it is the nature of the fixed-term agreement that there are costs.
The Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 100 basis points on Thursday, from 7. .5 to 6.