{"id":407908,"date":"2026-05-02T05:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407908\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T05:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T05:27:08","slug":"manurewa-bus-station-stabbing-woman-intervenes-to-save-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/407908\/","title":{"rendered":"Manurewa bus station stabbing: Woman intervenes to save man"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pair\u2019s arrival startled the alleged attacker, who ran off as Bennett wound down her window to ask the stricken man if he was all right.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was calling out for help. We were pretty scared. I reached to the back and opened the back passenger door, and asked if he could make it to the truck and jump in, which he proceeded to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Lama drove to the still open Crates and Cues Bar for help, the injured man kept saying \u201cit isn\u2019t good, it isn\u2019t good\u201d, Bennett said.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t till they got the man out of the truck they realised the seriousness of his injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d been stabbed in his left side and also under his ribs \u2026 and his hand above his wrist was all sliced. It was just really terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crates and Cues duty manager ran out with something for Bennett to hold against the man\u2019s wound, with the mother-of-seven and grandmother-of-12 doing her best to keep the man calm as he asked his helpers to call his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him to just breathe, and the police will be here soon. He was in shock.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man, who she described as of Middle Eastern ethnicity and aged in about his 40s, told them he didn\u2019t know his attacker.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that he\u2019d missed the last bus and he didn\u2019t realise it. I think he\u2019d just finished work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the incident, Manurewa<\/a>-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman told the Herald he not only wanted to check on the victim, but also \u201cmeet and congratulate\u201d those who intervened<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m bloody proud of anybody who\u2019s got the steel and the balls to go and assist somebody who\u2019s in trouble, and doing so in a way which is hopefully going to be a circuit-breaker, hopefully a safe circuit-breaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody might be alive today because somebody decided to give a damn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ImmediatelyImmediately after the incident, Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman said he was “bloody proud” of those who intervened and wanted to thank them in person. Photo \/ Annaleise Shortland<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019d not been able to speak with the victim, he\u2019d tracked down Bennett and Lama and \u2013 with fellow Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Matt Winiata and others \u2013 gave the couple a gift of food, treats and vouchers this week.<\/p>\n

The gesture was \u201creally lovely\u201d, Bennett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were quite surprised, but it was really lovely and I\u2019m very grateful and thankful.\u201d<\/p>\n

There had been other kindnesses, including a colleague of Lama\u2019s at youth justice residence Whakatakapokai cleaning his truck\u2019s bloodied back seat.<\/p>\n

Neither she nor Lama, 59, saw themselves as heroes, the 50-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just hopefully saved somebody\u2019s life \u2026 yeah [there was risk], but we just thought, this guy needs help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get told that most people would just look away, but I just really hope that more people would [help]. If I\u2019m in that predicament, I\u2019d love for someone to intervene, or try and intervene in a safe way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe injured man was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the stabbing incident on Wednesday last week. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

The injured man was taken by Hato Hone St John Ambulance to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition after the incident, and the couple hadn\u2019t been updated on his recovery, Bennett said.<\/p>\n

But he was in their thoughts, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just really happy that he\u2019s safe and alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 24-year-old man caught by police<\/a> near the scene of the attack soon after the incident has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. <\/p>\n

Police said the alleged offender also unsuccessfully tried to steal the person\u2019s backpack. <\/p>\n

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The pair\u2019s arrival startled the alleged attacker, who ran off as Bennett wound down her window to ask…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30482,31742,14322,5838,104,166518,127504,101,5158,80177,13631,111,43,139,69,29158,16156,7192,6302,11590,312,1238,15163,13655,1361,1960,61,17454,102,1354],"class_list":["post-407908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bus","tag-considered","tag-grandmother","tag-help","tag-injuries","tag-interrupted","tag-intervenes","tag-left","tag-man","tag-manurewa","tag-never","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-putting","tag-quick","tag-risk","tag-safety","tag-save","tag-says","tag-serious","tag-stabbing","tag-station","tag-that","tag-thinking","tag-to","tag-whose","tag-with","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407908","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=407908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}