Maraka! Maraka! Otautahi rises from the ruins - te karaka

Joseph pohIo
a GreaT Son
and friend
getting a call from the Police about the death of your
child is every parent’s worst nightmare. For Joy and
Arnold Pohio, that call at about midnight on February 22
confirmed their worst fears. Kaituhituhi Aaron Smale talks
to the Kaiapoi family a few months after the passing of
their beloved son Joseph.
Sun streams in through the living room windows
of Arnold and Joy Pohio’s Kaiapoi home. Arnold
stares into the distance as Joy sets up the dVd
player.
She points the remote. “this is it,” she says.
A song comes on: leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah,
sung by two friends of their son Joseph. the
occasion is Joseph’s wake. Friends and family
are gathered around his casket, which is painted
with a scene of lake tekapō.
A faint smile lights Joy’s face as she listens to
the stream of tributes. “Joe sailed through life
leaving nothing but friends in his wake,”
one mourner says.
“that’s true,” Joy says softly.
“i looked out here and there was just a mass of
people. we just weren’t ready for that,” says
Arnold.
only two months before Joseph celebrated
his 40th birthday with relations and about
120 friends. “we didn’t think they’d all come
back two months later for his funeral,” says Joy.
“Some of his friends talked about him at his 40th
birthday and got upset. they said Joe loved life,
but most of all he loved the people in it.”
on the afternoon of February 22 they knew
something was wrong. the couple was in the
Catlins when the earthquake struck, and they felt
a second shake as a stranger told them the CtV
building was down.
“Joy got a bad feeling within the hour,” says
Arnold.
“every day we would have contact with Joe,” says
Joy. “every single day he would ring. he would
ring at nights and i’d say: ‘what do you want,
boy?’. ‘i’m just ringing up to see that you and the
old man are oK,’ he’d say. So when i never got a
text from him and he didn’t phone, i started to
get worried. i got my daughter (hayley), but i still
couldn’t get Joseph. when i found out the first
quake was at ten to one i knew it was his lunch
break. that was when the panic started to set in.”
they made desperate phone calls to Police,
hospitals, anyone they could think of. Joseph
was a draughtsman at the Christchurch City
Council, and his workmates were also trying to
find him.
“we got a call at about midnight from a police
lady,” says Joy. “She said, ‘You realise i’m acting
unofficially, but it’s the worst news possible
about your son.’ i said, ‘Are you sure it’s him?’
She said, ‘Very, very sure.’”
they also had a call from a person who had been
at the scene when people were trying to save
Joe, and giving him CPR. the security card on
Joe’s belt had his name and photograph.
the next day they experienced confusion when
they went to the hospital.
“we got there and the Police were just starting
to get organised, but everything was new to
them. they didn’t know where Joseph was. they
thought he was at burnham, and we should go
home and wait,” says Arnold.
it wasn’t until their doctor intervened that they
found out Joseph was in the morgue in the
hospital. they identified him the following day.
From what they’ve been able to establish it
seems that Joseph was helping a woman when
the roof collapsed in the food court in high
Street, and the pair were struck by falling rubble.
the woman survived but Joy and Arnold haven’t
been able to talk to her yet.
“it’s just typical Joe. he’s helped people before.
he’s done CPR on people in the street before;
done first aid on people, things like that. if he
could help someone he would,” says Joy.
“the hard part is that he was only two metres
from getting away.”
Joseph had come close to having his life cut
short twice before. he had open heart surgery
to correct a hole in his heart when he was seven,
and as an adult he had suffered a broken neck
after being hit by a car.
“Not once did he ever complain about his health.
Not once. it made him appreciate his life and
value life,” says Joy.
Joseph was the first of those who lost their lives
in the earthquake to be formally identified. this
led to an unwelcome media frenzy. Journalists
rang and turned up on their doorstep. one
Japanese reporter phoned and asked how the
family was moving on. Joy told him they’d only
just buried Joseph, and hung up.
but the timing also led to the family being
overlooked by authorities responsible for
providing help. they weren’t assigned a police
liaison officer like other victims’ families, and
missed out on help from the Red Cross and
ACC, grief counseling and other services. they
were unaware that they could have been given a
police escort to the memorial service and been
seated in a cordoned-off area with other victims’
families.
“we watched it here with friends,” says Arnold.
“Nothing will bring him back now.”
“he just loved people. he just made every day
better for us. he was a good son. he was a good
boy wasn’t he,” Joy says, turning to Arnold.
“Just the best,” Arnold says, nodding.
“It’s just typical Joe. If he could help someone he would ... He just loved people.” JoY Pohio
“Just the best.” ARNold Pohio
32 te KaraKa MaKarIrI 2011
te KaraKa MaKarIrI 2011 33
PhotogRAPh AARoN SMAle