2013 - Senior Constable Thomas Deane O’Connor

Braving frigid waters to rescue a drowning man, Tauranga, 12 August 2013

TOI698 Senior Constable Thomas Deane O’Connor
The New Zealand Bravery Medal

On the evening of 12 August 2013, shortly after 1800, a vehicle travelling on the Maungatapu Causeway Bridge towards Mount Maunganui crossed the centreline and into the path of an oncoming van. The van and its two occupants spun into the railing of the bridge, crashing through it and dropping five metres into Tauranga Harbour. 

The van sank rapidly to the harbour floor with both occupants in the vehicle. The driver was trapped in the van and did not survive. The passenger managed to force his way out and was floundering in the water, where there was a relatively strong incoming tidal flow that was taking him away from the bridge and further out into the harbour. Constable Deane O’Connor was the first Police unit to arrive at the scene. He assessed the situation and stripped down to his underwear, jumped into the harbour and swam out approximately 150 metres to the passenger who was extremely distressed and panicked. Constable O’Connor grabbed the passenger, towing him for some 40 minutes in the dark to the opposite shoreline. Both men suffered hypothermia and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Constable O’Connor placed himself at risk to help the passenger, who given the conditions would have been unlikely to save himself. His bravery was in the highest traditions of the New Zealand Police.