A hero's instinct

Crash investigator Scott Quate didn’t hesitate to risk his own life to try to save others.

- Clare De Lore

Even when he’s off duty, Senior Constable Scott Quate keeps with him a phone that his partner calls “the death phone”. Answering it, and dealing with whatever news it brings, is all in a day’s work for the Napier policeman, recently honoured with the New Zealand Police Association’s Bravery Award.

Quate shrugs off the accolade. Death, but not glory, was already on his mind when he, partner Sandy and their baby daughter were crossing Fergusson Bridge, near Cambridge, in August 2017.

He was on bereavement leave – Sandy’s mother had just died and her family were gathering from all over New Zealand for her funeral.

If not for his skill and good luck, Quate’s family might have had another funeral to attend – his. As he drove across the bridge, traffic slowed to a halt and he noticed people looking from the bridge to the riverbank below. Quate pulled over and onlookers told him a ute had gone off the bridge. The vehicle was nowhere to be seen but a woman was floating face up and a man in the water was screaming for help.

While others watched, or worse, took photos and did nothing else, Quate dived into the cold, fast-moving waters of the Waikato River. As he was swept downstream, he grabbed an overhanging branch and was able to reach out for the woman. While they waited for help, Quate clung to the branch and held the woman above the water. The distressed man hung onto the woman and Quate managed to calm him, assuring him that help was coming.

All three were brought out of the water within 10 minutes. Quate and the man survived, but the woman died two days later in hospital.