Duncan Garner has opened up on his rescue of a child who was standing in the middle of a busy Auckland road.
The AM Show host spoke about the experience on Friday morning, and revealed how his instinct to help came from a strongly-held life philosophy.
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"I have this theory in life, this is what I follow: we are each other's eyes and ears," he said.
"On this team, on The AM Show, you [co-hosts Mark Richardson and Amanda Gillies] have my back, I have yours. If I've missed something, you tell me and if you've missed something I tell you.
"I have that in life as well. Where I live, in my community, I always keep a look out and stay aware."
Garner said his community-minded thinking came in handy on Thursday afternoon, when he was driving down a hill on a busy stretch of road and came across a child, standing alone.
"It was a little boy, standing in the middle of the road and looking up as I was driving towards him," he said.
"I put on my brakes, I stopped my car in the middle of the road - I didn't even think of putting my hazard lights on. I opened the door and stepped outside tentatively.
"He looked at me, and I put my hands out and said, 'Come here mate, come here buddy'. I didn't want to scare him."
Garner said he then made the incident into a game to keep him calm, throwing the child over his shoulder and sharing a laugh as he walked him across to the roadside.
At this point his mother emerged from a nearby driveway, and while she didn't speak much English, Garner was able to communicate what had happened.
Garner's fellow AM Show host Amanda Gillies said it was lucky that he had come across the boy first, rather than someone who might have tried to harm him.
Co-host Mark Richardson said while Garner was right to ensure the child's safety was the "number one priority", he said he should've opted to scare him to teach a valuable life lesson.
Newshub.
