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A former colleague has recalled a man in his 50s who died after contracting coronavirus in Auckland as a brother he considered family.
Alan Te Hiko was being treated in the intensive care unit at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital before he died on Friday afternoon, the Health Ministry said. He worked at Mt Wellington Americold Coolstore already linked to other recent Covid-19 cases.
His death was the first death for the Auckland August group and the 23rd Covid-19 related death in the country.
Ryan Anderson / Stuff
Alan Te Hiko had worked at the Americold facility in Mt Wellington.
Kennedy Hutaue, who previously worked at Americold with Te Hiko for about five years, said Stuff He was a great team leader who always got along with the job and never complained.
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Te Hiko was an avid Warriors supporter and wore a team jersey to work almost every day, Hutaue said, something he and his other colleagues would feel sorry for.
“There are many words to describe it. He wasn’t a work colleague, he was like our family. He was like a brother, and he was also like a father to one of the little children there.
“It’s hard to describe a guy like that. He defended us. He was a great man. “
Hutaue said Te Hiko had heart problems and that the workers did their best to take care of him as well.
Hutaue was surprised to learn that his friend had been diagnosed with Covid-19. He knew he had been to the hospital, but he thought he was fine.
Hutaue, a family man, said that Te Hiko’s granddaughter was “the apple of his eye.”
“He told us that he started playing [computer game] Fortnite for her. She went into playing Fortnite, we were all laughing out loud and she also brought her a PS4, or an extra controller or something so she could play with it when she was done working. “
Te Hiko was originally from Tokoroa, and Hutaue understood that he had planned to return home.
His body will be taken home and Hutaue said he and other colleagues planned to come down to pay their respects.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Manukau District Councilor Alf Filipaina wants South Aucklanders to get tested for Covid-19 after Alan Te Hiko died at Middlemore Hospital.
Manukau District Councilor Alf Filipaina said Friday the death made the outbreak feel very close to home.
“I have no doubt that I will meet the family or meet someone who knows the family. It’s an incredibly sad moment, ”she said.
“But I hope that something good can come up in the sense that it wakes people up a bit. We have to go and get tested, especially in South Auckland. Go and get tested. “
The president of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe local council, Lotu Fuli, said the death was the “worst possible outcome” and sent her condolences to Te Hiko’s family.
“We were preparing for this as a community, it was to be expected, but it doesn’t make it easier to listen or of course to deal with those close to the family.”
