FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012

THE DOMINION POST

A3

dompost.co.nz

NEWS
Sir Paul Callaghan found no benefits from his experimental cancer treatment, reports Kate Newton.

Brother driving ute when boy died

A 13-year-old eastern Bay of Plenty boy sustained fatal head injuries after falling off the back of a ute driven by his 16-year-old brother, police say. Shane Hohepa, of Te Teko, 20 kilometres southwest of Whakatane, was in the back tray of the ute when his brother swerved, throwing the younger boy on to the road on Wednesday afternoon, Senior Constable Steve Allan of the Strategic Crash Unit said. The boy died of massive head injuries, not far from his parents home. Mr Allan said police had not completed the investigation and did not know why the ute swerved.

In tomorrows

Airport secured
Security has been strengthened at Kapiti Coast Airport after an aircraft was broken into. Airport owner Sir Noel Robinson said a police, Air New Zealand and Civil Aviation Authority investigation had been completed and, as a result, new security surveillance cameras had been installed. Early last month a Bombardier Q300 passenger aircraft was broken into while parked overnight on the tarmac. Ground handlers noticed the planes inflatable ditching dam device had been deployed.

I was never advocating this treatment. I was just curious.

BARE FACTS
The barefoot running revolution

Indecency sentence
A Trentham man charged with indecent assault for patting two young girls bottoms has been sentenced to four months home detention. Paul Francis Sheehan, 45, a cleaner, appeared for sentencing at Lower Hutt District Court yesterday. Judge Ian Mill said that, on October 25, Sheehan followed a 12-year-old girl into a dance studio, where she was standing with her mother watching the dancing. He walked behind the girl, brushing his hand against her bottom. He repeated this four times. Then on November 27 he followed another young girl into a toy shop in Lower Hutt, where he repeated the same action twice.

HIGH NOTES
The musicians to watch in 2012

FINE & DANDY

Mens race-day fashion

Glider named
Oamaru police yesterday named the pilot killed in a glider crash near Omarama on Wednesday as 60-yearold Michael John McKellow of Hororata in Canterbury. He was the sole occupant of the glider that crashed 17km north-west of Omarama in the Snowy Top Peak area at about 6.20pm. The fixedwing glider appeared to lose altitude rapidly before crashing on a gentle slope on the western side of the peak, police said. Mr McKellow was an experienced pilot who had flown internationally and recently returned from flying in the US. The death has been referred to the coroner. Going public: Sir Paul Callaghan wants to make the results of his treatment experiment public because of the risk his use of vitamin C will be used to falsely promote the therapy.
Photo:CHRIS SKELTON/FAIRFAX NZ

Vitamin therapy fails to deliver

CELEBRATED physicist Sir Paul Callaghan has ended his experimental intravenous vitamin-C treatment for cancer, saying there is absolutely no evidence it worked. He is concerned that alternative medicine advocates are now using his unusual experiment to promote the controversial treatment in a misleading way. The New Zealander of the Year, who has terminal colon cancer, began receiving high-dose intravenous infusions of vitamin C in June last year, along with several alternative herbal remedies. The 64-year-old began the treatment during a six-month break from chemotherapy, tracking its effectiveness through a blood test for protein carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which indicates cancer levels. Yesterday, he told The Dominion Post he had ended his experiment after analysing data from six months of blood test results. I have, as a result, learned enough to say that there is absolutely no evidence of any beneficial effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C in my case. His CEA had initially dropped after the first six doses of vitamin C, but had then risen again. He said he wanted to make the results of his experiment public because of the risk his use of vitamin C would be used to falsely promote the therapy. Ive been deluged with correspondence from people who have wanted me to endorse products, try products. That was a really negative side. The way people promoted products without evidence was quite repellent, he said. He had seen his name cited in articles promoting vitamin C and said he knew publicity about his experiment had caused other people to try it. People with cancer had the right to try unproven therapies themselves, but should do so in consultation with their specialist or GP, he said. In my case, I have done so openly, with the knowledge of my medical advisers, and with the sort of dispassionate scepticism that you would expect of a scientist. I was never advocating this treatment. I was just curious. He is now receiving radiotherapy and discussing other treatment options with his doctor. Victoria University professor Shaun Holt, a natural remedies researcher, said he was not surprised the treatment had not worked, though I really wish it had. Debate about high-dose vitamin C had been raging for three decades and it was time proper clinical trials were conducted, he said. I dont think it does [work], but Im always happy to be corrected. Sir Paul is such a high-profile, well-respected person. It would be great if he could use that profile to initiate the funding for a trial. High-dose vitamin C has been steadily gaining publicity in New Zealand. Young Wellington film-maker Kurt Filiga tracked his unsuccessful treatment in a documentary he made before his death from leukaemia in September 2010. Last year, an unnamed Wellington doctor who gives intravenous vitamin C told The Dominion Post that an estimated 30 clinics nationwide gave 10,000 injections of vitamin C a year.

HAASTS EAGLE

INSIGHT Extinct Birds Series

Haasts eagle was a large eagle with a low, narrow skull and an elongated beak. The males were smaller than the females. It had relatively short wings for its size: these were designed for lapping light, not for soaring. Its wing structure also helped it to catch and subdue prey as large as, or larger than, the eagle itself, and was better suited for fast, manoeuvrable light in dense forest. It was approaching the upper limit of size for lapping light if it got any bigger it would have had to rely on gliding. The tail was long (50cm) and very broad, increasing manoeuvrability and providing additional lift. Its leg bones were better suited for perching or for

PART TWO

Haasts eagle (Harpagornis moorei) was the largest eagle to have lived and was the only eagle in the world to have been top predator of its ecosystem.

gripping prey than for walking on the ground. The structure of the foot and length of the talons meant that Haasts eagle could apply much greater force with its feet than other birds of prey. The eagle attacked a variety of lightless birds found in New Zealand including the now extinct moa. It would launch itself from a high perch attacking at speeds up to 80km/h, seizing its prey's pelvis with the talons of one foot and striking at the moas side. Its large talons grasped the hindquarters of the moa, and killed it by in licting deep crushing wounds that caused massive internal bleeding. The eagle had power in its talons (the size of tigers claws) easily suf icient to snap a humans neck. When people arrived in New Zealand, the eagle may have mistaken them for moa and attacked and eaten them. A creature that could kill a moa weighing 180kg, may have seen an adult human as viable prey.

Films delay
Strong winds caused the postponement of last nights Films by Starlight screening till tonight. The season of four films opened on Wednesday night with a packed audience of about 1000 jamming in to The Dell in Wellingtons Botanic Garden to watch Exit Through The Gift Shop, spokeswoman Anna Dean said. Last nights screening of Bill Cunningham New York will now play tonight from dusk.

Haasts eagle was named Harpagornis moorei by Julius von Haast after George Henry Moore, the owner of the Glenmark Estate where bones of the bird had been found.

Fossils have been found all across the South Island. Fossil evidence shows that the areas where the Haasts eagle lived were covered in forest and shrublands, as well as in the gras sslands ri iver loodp plains. grasslands on river loodplains.

Pictures of Haasts eagle are found in rock paintings drawn in the 13th and 14th century not long after the Polynesians arrived in New Zealand. Illustration: Illustration: Michael McGurk

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5 Part 5 Pa

Size comparison to a human

Haasts eagle
Wing span: 3 metres Tail: Weight: ngth 50cm in length 15kg
ADZEBILL HAASTS EAGLE HUIA SOUTH ISLAND KOKAKO UPLAND MOA

EXTINCT BIRDS
Part 2: Haasts eagle

Road workers kept boy alive after dog attack

THREE Ashburton road workers saved the life of a child bitten on the throat by a dog. When Paul Tuki, Robert Batt and Louie Wehipeihana dropped their tools to help a screaming woman, they had no idea their actions would save the 3-yearold boys life. The Ashburton Contracting workers were laying drains in King St, Ashburton, on Wednesday. A woman came running out of a house very distressed, saying a dog had bitten a young boy, asphalt-laying supervisor Mr Wehipeihana said. We just thought it was a bite to the leg; then the young boys brother carried him out. It was obvious the child had been bitten on the throat. Mr Wehipeihana called out to Mr Batt, a labourer, and Mr Tuki, a drainlaying supervisor, and they rushed to the boy. A trained first-aider, Mr Batt ran back to their vehicle to fetch the first-aid kit. The woman, believed to be the boys aunt, was already on the phone to paramedics. I put pressure on the wound and turned him over [in the recovery position] so he didnt choke on the blood, Mr Batt said. Mr Tuki held the boy while Mr Wehipeihana took over the phone call to the paramedics as the woman was too distressed to continue talking. St John paramedics arrived in less than 10 minutes and took the boy to Ashburton Hospital, Mr Batt said. They scooped him up pretty quick one look and he was gone, he said. Their rescue over, the men returned to work. Yesterday, they were back in King St. Their actions did not sink in until Wednesday night, they said. After the incident, the boy was flown to Christchurch Hospital, where he underwent surgery. He was in a critical but stable condition yesterday, a police spokesman said. The dog, believed to be a 5-year-old male doberman-staffordshire bull terrier cross, belonged to members of the boys family. It was taken by Ashburton District Council animal control officers and impounded before being killed at the request of the family. The boys parents said they would like to acknowledge the quick efforts of the Ashburton road workers and the St John paramedics that were first on the scene to help save our little boys life. Christchurch Hospital staff also praised the mens efforts. Ashburton Contracting quality safety manager Jane Jolly and general manager Gary Casey said the men should be commended. Were just really proud of them and the way they handled themselves, Ms Jolly said. That sort of situation can be quite frightening, but they did what had Fairfax NZ to be done.

Saviours: Louie Wehipeihana, left, Paul Tuki and Rob Batt played a vital role applying first aid Photo: FAIRFAX NZ after a young boy suffered severe injuries from a dog.

Socialising ended in mans drowning in drain

Seamus Boyer
THE Wellington man who died after falling into a waterfront drain had been drinking cocktails at his favourite central city bar in the lead-up to his death. Peter Black, 43, died about 6am on Saturday morning after falling headfirst into the roadside drain while trying to retrieve his keys. He is thought to have drowned after being unable to free himself from the confined space. His funeral is today. Yesterday his boss, Metal Construction owner Ian Vibert, said Mr Black had been socialising at his favourite watering hole, Hooch in Courtenay Place, from 10pm on Friday and was due to work on Saturday morning. I didnt know it, but he was supposed to be coming in to work, actually, he said. I was there and some of the guys said he was coming in, but he never showed up.

Most normal people would look inside [the grate] to see what was in there. But whether or not they saw the soles of his shoes . . .
IAN VIBERT

Instead, his body remained in the drain for 30 hours before being discovered by customers of the Harbourside Market. Mr Black was a regular at Hooch, described as a burlesque-themed cocktail bar, where he was known to drink Old Fashioneds, which are usually whiskeybased. Staff were shocked and saddened by his death after hearing the news on Tuesday.

Mr Vibert said he and his staff had heard reports that a parking warden had kicked shut the open grate on Saturday, without noticing the body. I would look inside, most normal people would look inside to see what was in there. But whether or not they saw the soles of his shoes . . . but I mean, if it was obvious to [those who discovered the body] then it would have been even more obvious [with the grate up]. A Wellington City Council spokesman said he had no knowledge of any incident involving council staff. He confirmed that Mr Blacks van, registered to Metal Construction, had been ticketed at 12.15pm on Saturday after being chalked by a warden at 9.40am. The ticket had since been waived. Police refused to comment on whether the grate had been left up, saying the matter was in the hands of the coroner.

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