They met as carefree American teens singing ’80s hit La Bamba at prestigious Harvard University and their friendship soon turned into romance, which led to them co-authoring best-selling crime books based on real-life cases.
Now writer TJ Mitchell and his forensic pathologist wife Dr Judy Melinek have scripted a perfect ending to their own harrowing story, relocating their family to New Zealand to escape their COVID-ravaged homeland.
The couple feel “so grateful” to be a world away from their former lives in the US, where Judy led the pandemic response for a sheriff-coroner office in the San Francisco Bay Area, but didn’t feel safe or supported at work.
Chatting to Woman’s Day from their new home in Mount Cook – near the Wellington Hospital mortuary, where Judy now performs coronial autopsies – they say their main reason for the move was simply to stay alive.
“We didn’t want to catch this thing and I was afraid of bringing it home,” says 51-yearold Judy, who’s usually the first to be called when people die in strange ways. “I wasn’t afraid of catching it from the dead bodies I cut up because I had PPE on, but I was afraid of catching it from the police officers who refused to wear masks and ignored the risks.”
When she was headhunted by a Kiwi recruitment company last May, her decision to take up the job offer as an essential worker was a no-brainer. “I’d been studying COVID protocols from government responses over the world and said, ‘We need to be doing what Jacinda Ardern’s doing in New Zealand.’ It made an impression on me long before we were contacted by anyone.”
This story is from the May 3, 2021 edition of Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 3, 2021 edition of Woman’s Day Magazine NZ.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
TREASURE & TRAUMA
The launch of the new season of Celebrity Treasure Island doubled as an eighth wedding anniversary celebration for contestant Millen Baird and his wife Siobhan Marshall, who came fourth on the show back in 2022.
JUDGE JAY-JAY
Radio diva Jay-Jay Feeney delivers her verdict on your biggest dilemmas
CASEY'S BABY JOY 'OUR GIRL IS ALREADY SO LOVED'
The Te Puke gym owner refused to let a devastating accident stop her from becoming a mother
DEAD FUNNY! SHOSHANA'S GOING SOLO
The Emmy Award-winning writer is starring in a macabre new comedy
TWO RAW SISTERS BABY MAKES THREE!
Rosa and Margo have a new cookbook and bundle of joy on the way
HOME AND AWAY'S NEW MÃORI STAR
The son of a Kiwi sporting Legend, Cantona Stewart is making waves in Summer Bay
TV STAR AIDEE 'THE NIGHT I ALMOST DIED'
The actress and director opens up about her terrifying ordeal
CARMEL SEPULONI I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A FIGHTER!
Our former deputy PM the lessons she's learnt in politics on CTI
KENNEDY & SOLLY'S ROMANTIC RACE TO THE ALTAR
The Black Ferns co-captain and her rugby star husband organised the ir nuptials in just five days!
THE BRAD & GEORGE SHOW is back!
Their lovable bromance is stealing the spotlight in Venice!