{"id":163550,"date":"2025-12-02T01:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T01:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/163550\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T01:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T01:39:08","slug":"on-the-up-whangarei-busker-mr-t-gets-new-scooter-after-second-accident-leaves-him-without-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/163550\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Whang\u0101rei busker Mr T gets new scooter after second accident leaves him without wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 66-year-old has been back on Whang\u0101rei\u2019s streets since then, thanks to a scooter he was gifted two months after<\/a> the accident.<\/p>\n

But as he crossed outside Whang\u0101rei Hospital about seven weeks ago, he was hit again by a car. <\/p>\n

This time he was unhurt but his scooter was damaged beyond use. <\/p>\n

\"TeTe Wairongoa Paniona, affectionately known as ‘Mr T’, was gifted a new mobility scooter last Friday after he was hit by a vehicle a second time. Photo \/ Brodie Stone<\/p>\n

NorthAble integrated case co-ordinator Natalie Woods said since the second accident, Paniona had been \u201creally feeling it\u201d. <\/p>\n

Usually when she would see him, he would have the biggest smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, I see a bit of life sucked out of him,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n

Paniona headed along to NorthAble in Whang\u0101rei to perform last Friday.<\/p>\n

Unbeknown to him, a surprise was waiting.<\/p>\n

NorthAble assistant manager Elaina Gray drove out of the shop in a shiny new scooter fitted with a gold bow.<\/p>\n

Paniona finished his song and then the good news was delivered. Gray told him: \u201cThis is for you\u201d.<\/p>\n

The scooter, worth about $10,000, is able to reach speeds of up to about 50km\/h. It was given to NorthAble by Pride Mobility, who agreed to partner with them.<\/p>\n

Emotional, Paniona called the new scooter a \u201cblessing\u201d. It would allow him to get back to doing what he loved so much – busking. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll never give it up,\u201d Paniona said. <\/p>\n

Gray told the Northern Advocate that at least five different people had come into NorthAble since the accident to ask if they had seen Paniona and check if he was okay. <\/p>\n

\"BelovedBeloved busker, ‘Mr T’, was gifted a new scooter and two years’ insurance after he was hit by a car crossing the road near Whang\u0101rei Hospital about seven weeks ago. Photo \/ Brodie Stone<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really telling that he is a big part of this community,\u201d Gray said. <\/p>\n

Retail manager Satish Neelam said when they got the scooter, the first person that came to mind was Paniona. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I remembered him was because there were so many people coming in and asking \u2018What\u2019s happening with this person?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods said Paniona\u2018s scooter connected him to his lifestyle. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always out and about helping people, doing things, busking, and he hasn\u2019t really been able to do it how he wanted to. So it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whang\u0101rei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 66-year-old has been back on Whang\u0101rei\u2019s streets since then, thanks to a scooter he was gifted two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1081,74,1558,6757,107241,2199,6119,107242,6276,39194,16718,809,7973,16564,117,111,139,69,90,56574,8466,39658,213,5412,223,105378,810,1869,57767,52398,1339],"class_list":["post-163550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-accident","tag-after","tag-been","tag-bringing","tag-busker","tag-city","tag-faces","tag-friendliest","tag-gets","tag-gifted","tag-him","tag-keep","tag-leaves","tag-mr","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-scooter","tag-second","tag-smooth","tag-sports","tag-streets","tag-the","tag-tunes","tag-up","tag-whangrei","tag-whangreis","tag-wheels","tag-without"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}