New ambulance for Tauranga

Bob and Martha Clarkson have donated the 200k ambulance.

A dental emergency has resulted in the donation of a brand new St John Tauranga Ambulance.

Bob and Martha Clarkson were acknowledged for their kind donation yesterday in a special ceremony at the St John Mount Station in Mount Maunganui.

The new ambulance is valued at more than $200,000 and was made in Hamilton by Action Manufacturing.

It features state of the art medical technology, including an electronic power load Stryker stretcher which can hold up to 318kg.

In his speech yesterday, Bob explained what influenced him to donate the ambulance.

'I met these two guys around Christmas when I had an incident with my wisdom tooth which was giving me a little trouble."

He says he went to the dentist where they decided to remove his tooth, despite his protests.

'Two and a half hours later the tooth had broken into four pieces and was stuck in my jaw, I was in dire straits.

'Trouble was the dentist had a break down and was destressed and gave up and sent me home with four pieces of teeth stuck in my jaw.

'An hour later I was in serious trouble I managed to call 111, I could still speak but I was in severe pain.”

He says when the ambulance officers arrived he was taken aback by their compassion and willingness to go above and beyond.

'What impressed me was that when they walked through the door they didn't come straight to me they stopped suddenly,” says Bob.

'He said to me you didn't fall down the stairs.

'That was very professional, he could've just dealt straight to me but he wanted to know what the injury was first.”

He says another officer then cleaned up the area.

'As I'm getting in the ambulance the other officer gets a bundle of tissue paper, goes into my house and wipes the blood up off the floor,” he says.

'It might seem small to you, but to me that was very professional.”

St John central region general manager Andrew Boyd says they are grateful for the donation.

'One of the reasons why St John can serve the public and do it without full government funding is because of the generosity of locals like Bob and Martha,” says Andrew.

'Our buildings and equipment are because of the generosity of locals, which without we just couldn't operate the service we do.

'Bob's speech shows the compassion that our two ambulance officers showed, coming in and not just looking after him but not wanting his wife to come home to a scene.

'People are fit and well and then these things happen and they realize how nice it is to have St John as a service.”

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9 comments

What a great country this is.

Posted on 20-09-2017 10:49 | By Papamoaner

In a lot of other places, this would never happen, and few can afford an ambulance let alone hospital care.


Good one Bob and Martha.

Posted on 20-09-2017 11:49 | By Murray.Guy

I vote the Ambo is named Martha, the stretcher, 'Bob'. Great real life account Sunlive.


Bob for Prime Minister

Posted on 20-09-2017 17:41 | By Surfwatch

Thankyou very much to Bob and Martha. Such unselfish generosity should never be forgotten. An ambulance in Tauranga should always have their name on it.


Good on Ya !!...

Posted on 20-09-2017 21:12 | By groutby

....Bob and Martha, the community thanks you...even if in a silent way....


And over the years,

Posted on 20-09-2017 22:50 | By The Caveman

how many people have slagged off "Bob" ?? Excuse the pun, but he has put his money where his his mouth is. Have those that have slagged him off, fronted up with a NEW $200,000 plus ambulance ? I think not. THANK YOU BOB.


THIS IS AWESOME

Posted on 21-09-2017 11:12 | By old trucker

Agree with all comments,you are AWESOME Bob and Martha, Bob has done wonderful things for Tauranga,a lot of STRESS from City Hall over subdivision THINGS etc,HOPE Bob that all is well now,all the BEST from The Old Trucker, Like Bob Sunlive you are the Best, another great story, keep up the great work, that is why you are No1 for News, and WON THE SAME. Thankyou, 10-4, out. phew.


Yes indeed

Posted on 21-09-2017 19:13 | By Papamoaner

We tend to take things like ambulances for granted, and this reminds us that they have to be funded from somewhere. And where would we be if there were NO AMUBLANCES? What lovely people the Clarkson's are.


HUMANITY

Posted on 21-09-2017 22:52 | By Active

I always wished you were our Mayor. You are a good man. A good man. All the very best to you both.


St Johns

Posted on 22-09-2017 11:40 | By Minib

I have on occasions needed the Ambulance service and have always been impressed with the attention given,Keep up the good work and thank you Bob for your generosity.


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