A Christchurch dairy owner who was seriously injured while confronting alleged robbers has delivered a powerful and compassionate message to the young people involved, saying they can still build a better life if they choose to change. Reported by Phoebe Utteridge from Stuff.
Kamlesh Patel was stabbed while chasing alleged offenders at his dairy, the Opawa Discounter on Opawa Rd, at around 6.40am on December 2.
He suffered severe injuries, including damage to an artery in his arm, a cut eyelid, and wounds between his thumb and forefinger that required stitches. Patel spent eight days in hospital, where his arm had to be surgically repaired, and his shop remained closed for nearly two weeks.
CCTV footage from the incident shows a car pulling up outside the dairy before the alleged offenders ran inside and grabbed the cash register. Patel, who lives at the back of the shop with his wife Neeta, heard noises and came out to stop them.
He was knocked to the ground but got back up and followed them to the door, where a struggle took place. The footage shows Patel being stabbed repeatedly in the arm as he continued trying to stop them.
“It is my basic nature, that we don’t allow anybody to steal anything from the shop,” Patel said. He added that he did not realise the alleged offenders were carrying a knife.
Police later arrested a 14-year-old boy around 3.45pm that day. Learning the alleged offender’s age left Patel questioning parental responsibility.
“Why are kids of 12 years, 13 years, 14 years on the street throughout the night without any adults with them,” he said. “It’s your duty to find out where [your kids] are, what they are doing.”
Patel said shoplifting by children was common, but money was never his priority. “Money is not important, it is happiness.” He recalled an incident where a young boy returned days later to apologise for stealing. “I told him: ‘It’s a good time for you, you have good opportunity and a better life ahead’... We have to guide them.”
He shared a similar message for those allegedly involved in the latest attack. “This is the right time to change your attitude,” he said. “Come back to the good community. Do better work. Be a better human. You have a bright future in this country.”
The incident was not Patel’s first dangerous encounter. He has previously had a gun pointed at him and once fought off a masked man alongside his wife and daughter.
Asked if he would intervene again, he said: “They are taking our livelihoods. My nature is not to harm anybody, but I won’t let anybody take anything without any reason.”
However, Neeta Patel said she fears for her husband’s safety and wishes he would stop chasing offenders. “I’m always telling him: Don’t chase, don’t chase.” She described seeing blood “everywhere” after the attack as “so scary.”
Speaking from their bedroom behind the dairy, the couple said they had been overwhelmed by community support. “We are not alone,” Neeta said, showing cards and flowers from customers and strangers alike. She said some customers had come in and cried for them. “I feel goosebumps.”
Even amid recovery, Patel continued interacting warmly with customers. A young girl proudly showed him that her front baby teeth had fallen out, prompting him to joke: “Too many lollies... you’ll need to be careful with the next ones!” Another customer stopped by simply to ask how he was doing.
A fundraising page set up for the family had raised more than $11,000 by Wednesday. While Patel acknowledged it would help after losing income during the closure, he repeated that “money is not important.”
It was the community, he said, that had sustained him through 16 years of running the dairy. “We came here with nothing, so whatever we have today, that is because of this community.”
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