Landslide victim's dad honoured | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

The past two years have been a mix of tragedy and triumph for Taneatua principal Rob Shaw.

He lost the second of two "sons" in a horrific accident, was applauded for his selfless half-a-century of dedication to junior rugby, went to the Rugby World Cup final and had students involved in a horrific collision between a bus and a logging truck.

All he wanted for 2012 was a quiet year but it seems that is not to be with news he is to receive a Local Hero Medal for his outstanding contribution to the rural settlement of Taneatua.

But ask Mr Shaw if he's a hero and you will get an emphatic no.

"I'm touched somebody thinks enough of me to put my name forward for this award but I'm not a hero. I can think of heaps more people who are more deserving of this accolade than myself."

When The Daily Post found Mr Shaw yesterday, he was at Taneatua School with a bucket and mop in hand.

"We're between caretakers so I managed to grab a couple of lads and we're having a bit of a spring clean."

Mr Shaw, alongside 139 other Kiwis, will receive his medal at a public ceremony next month.

Not only has the Taneatua School principal of 16 years been named as a local hero, he is also one of 10 medal recipients chosen to be semi-finalists for the national Kiwibank Local Hero Award to be announced at the 2012 New Zealander of the Year gala next month.

For Mr Shaw, the accolade comes at the beginning of a year he hopes will be a lot quieter than the last.

In 2010 he was recognised for 50 continuous years of selfless dedication to the Whakatane Tai Mitchell junior rugby team. Mr Shaw said he did what he did because he loved it.

"I've seen many a young kid turn their life around after becoming involved in sport. Sometimes these young ones have to be shown, sometimes they have to be appreciated and sometimes they just have to be loved to grow." In June 2011 he lost his whangai son Hugh "Boy" Biddle after a landslide engulfed his Westend home during heavy rain.

In 2004 Greg Shaw, a man Rob described as his best mate, drowned while surfing at Omaio during Cyclone Ivy in 2004. The pair were just two of a number of young men Mr Shaw became a father-figure to, mentored, and helped to turn their lives around.