Three local Hato Hone St John members were honoured for 50 years of service last month, including Motueka’s Fred Wassell, Tapawera’s Marie Bint and Golden Bay’s Stuart Chalmers. Gordon Preece speaks with Fred and Marie about what the accolade means to them.
Fred Wassell has been honoured for his five decades with Hato Hone St John in Motueka with the Service Medal in Gold for his pulsating career.
The current health shuttle leader was among the first three St John members to receive the accolade in the Nelson and Tasman Bays district on 7 September.
The Service Medal in Gold for ultra-long service was first awarded by St John in 2020.
Fred was self-effacing upon the recognition.
“I think it’s pretty great to reach that and I have got to thank my wife [Joan] and [four adult children] for the sacrifices that they put up with to help me do it,” he says.
“I wanted to give something back to the community and I still enjoy it, otherwise I wouldn’t still be doing it. I don’t think there’d be anyone that doesn’t appreciate the service St John gives.”
Fred joined the voluntary organisation in 1974 as a young ambulance officer, taking on key roles in the emergency ambulance service, first aid training department, and event health services.
He joined the Hato Hone St John Motueka Area Committee in 1980 and was its chair from 2007 to 2022, contributing to its St John Youth programme and fundraising for the Motueka station and Courtney Street Hall’s development.
Fred jumped into the Hato Hone St John health shuttle service as a volunteer in 2012 and has been its team leader since 2013, transporting people to medical appointments from Motueka, Riwaka and Lower and Upper Moutere.
He is also a member of the Hato Hone St John Nelson and Tasman Bays area committee, where his dedication to the Motueka community remains evident.
Fred was admitted to The Order of St John in 1999 and was then promoted to Officer in 2023. In the same year, he was honoured by Motueka Rotary with a Paul Harris Fellow award, which acknowledges individuals who contribute to their community through voluntary work.
The 79-year-old says he wouldn’t be storing away the uniform just yet.
Meanwhile, recently retired ambo Marie Bint was bestowed with the Service Medal in Gold for her half-century service with Hato Hone St John.
The 70-year-old joined as a St John Youth Cadet in Motueka at age 11 and never looked back.
After six years honing her first aid skills in Motueka, she became a member of the Tapawera St John station in the 1980s and led its St John Youth Cadets programme for five years.
Marie got behind the ambulance wheel for her training as a full-time paramedic in 1989 after the local forestry headquarters donated its ambulance to the community following its closure.
She qualified in 1991 and was based in Richmond covering the Nelson Bays area until she attended her final emergency incident in October last year.
Marie says assisting patients and her colleagues kept her career pulsing.
“The patients are really fantastic, that’s why you stay in the job for so long, you don’t know what job you are going into next,” she says.
“They’re so grateful and they’re really lovely to invite us into their home in some emergencies, it’s a change in their lives, and we can actually do something that will help.
“I’ve worked with some highly-trained and dedicated staff and receiving the 50-year service medal was really great.”
Marie says since her retirement in 2023, she volunteered at Tapawera’s first response unit until last month, when her body told her the time was right to dispatch.
“The frontline is so demanding these days… and I’m no longer able to keep up with the younger ones,” she says.
“I’m joining some of the community groups in Tapawera, and I’ve now got more time on my hands… it was a 48-hour week [as a full-time paramedic]. Fifty years has come along very quickly and working for St John has been a privilege.”
