Warning: This story contains graphic content

A construction worker who was first to respond to a horrific sushi shop stabbing at Browns Bay says he saw the victim crawling from the shop covered in blood moments after she was brutally attacked by her estranged husband.

As he tried to stem blood loss from the woman’s severe knife injuries, his colleagues barricaded the assailant inside until armed police arrived and entered the store.

The men - hailed as “heroes” for what they did on the Thursday night - said they had to “switch off their emotions” as the incident unfolded to give the badly injured sushi shop owner any chance of survival.

“What we did was what anyone in that situation would have done,” builder Laurence Park, 34, told the Herald.

“My only wish and hope is that what we did is enough to help Marie survive and fully recover.”

Emergency services responded to reports of an assault in the North Shore suburb on the evening of March 28. After being treated on the footpath, the victim was taken to Auckland Hospital with serious injuries while the offender responsible died at the scene from self-inflicted injuries, according to police.

Park, who is the director of Brave Construction Ltd, was working on a shop fit-out of a nail bar next to Neco Sushi when he saw the victim covered in blood and crawling out of the store.

“At first I didn’t know what I was seeing, I saw something on the floor that I thought was a black apron but then I realised it was a person crawling and covered in blood,” Park said.

Brave Construction director Laurence Park called the police and shouted for his crew to help after a stabbing in Browns Bay. Photo / Dean Purcell

“There was so much blood that I couldn’t see a face. I just dropped everything and rushed to her, and saw that she was bleeding really, really severely.”

Park said the woman was bleeding heavily from a neck wound, so he applied pressure with his hand in an attempt to stem the blood loss and yelled for his workers to come out.

“She was slumped on the ground with part of her legs still inside the shop, she was so badly injured she couldn’t say anything at all,” Park said.

“She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t make noise, nothing, in fact, she hardly had any energy to move.”

One of the construction workers blocked the back door of Neco Sushi so the attacker couldn't escape. Photo / Dean Purcell

One of the men, Vincent Yeo, 34, rushed to a barber shop across the street to get clean towels and returned to attend to the victim while Park called police.

It was around this time when another of his crew saw that the alleged attacker was still in the shop, sitting on a chair and also covered in blood.

Park said he moved the injured woman out of the shop and shouted for his men to secure the shop door so the attacker couldn’t escape. Another of the men then ran to block the back exit.

A man, who Park recognised as the sushi shop owner’s son, then arrived and rushed to his injured mother. It is unclear if the son was at the shop during the attack.

The shop owner’s other son arrived not long after, Park said.

The actions of the Brave Construction workers are said to have helped the victim survive the stabbing. Photo / Dean Purcell

“He was literally shaking and just yelled for his mother to hang on and don’t die, and assuring her that the ambulance is on the way,” Park said.

“A while later, the man’s brother arrived and I think they were more in a state of panic than us.”

It was about 10 minutes before police arrived, the first was a woman officer armed with a Taser gun but she didn’t enter the shop until back-up arrived.

“After police went inside we heard shouting, asking the attacker to drop the weapon and what followed was a lot of noise, like banging and crashing,” Park said.

“Then there was silence. We were then told that the attacker had died.”

Flowers and cards are left outside Neco Sushi in Browns Bay. Photo / Dean Purcell

By then, the ambulance arrived and attended to the victim.

In a handwritten note attached to the shop door, the family thanked the “heroes who were present at the time of the incident”.

“On behalf of our mother Marie, we sincerely thank each and every one of you for your support throughout this tragic event,” it said.

The Browns Bay Business Association also placed a note at the shop saying the quick action of those passing by “no doubt assisted in giving Neco Sushi’s owner a chance of survival”.

Police arrive following the stabbing incident at Neco Sushi on March 28. Photo / Hayden Woodward

“We salute them for acting so bravely under extremely stressful circumstances,” the letter read.

The association said the attack was not random but “an act of domestic violence”.

Park, however, said he and his men were no heroes and did what anyone else would have done under those circumstances.

“It was just lucky that myself and Vincent, who had undergone military training in South Korea, knew basic first aid,” he said.

The body of the dead assailant remained in the shop overnight following the Thursday evening attack. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Park said about six men from Brave Construction who were working on site that Thursday evening helped in the aftermath of the attack.

He said some other bystanders, including a nurse in uniform, also assisted that night.

“We just had to switch off our emotions and do what needed to be done,” Park said.

He and his colleagues hoped their efforts were enough to help the victim pull through.

Her family said in the written note that doctors had advised them their mother’s condition was stable and they had “the utmost faith that she will make a full recovery”.

Police are yet to the name the man who died. However, the Herald understands the assailant is the victim’s estranged husband, who had previously been a part of the sushi business.

They have two adult sons, one of whom was working at the business doing food deliveries for Neco Sushi.

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7)
• Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7)
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906
• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
• What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
• Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7)
• Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you're in danger now:
• Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.
• Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.
• Take the children with you. Don't stop to get anything else.
• If you are being abused, remember it's not your fault. Violence is never okay.
Where to go for help or more information:
• Women's Refuge: Crisis line - 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24/7)
• Shine: Helpline - 0508 744 633 (available 24/7)
• It's Not Ok: Family violence information line - 0800 456 450
• Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.
• Crisis line - 0800 742 584 (available 24/7)
• Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence
• Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services
• White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men's violence towards women.

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Lincoln Tan, a multimedia journalist for New Zealand’s Herald, specialises in covering stories around diversity and immigration.

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald here.