Tonga mourning the loss of a warrior in its war on drugs Featured
Ned Cook
20 May, 2020. Tonga is mourning the loss of a warrior in its war on methamphetamine.
Ned Cook, Salvation Army leader and the sole champion of rehabilitation in the nation, has been killed.
Mr Cook ran the Salvation Army's alcohol and drug awareness centre.
A New Zealand based Tongan and a trained clinician, he went home to tackle the kingdom's meth crisis.
“Ned was a courageous hero, he went to Tonga, he went to the lion’s den knowing exactly what he was getting into,” Pakilau Manase Lua of the Aotearoa Tongan Health Workers Association says.
When 1 NEWS uncovered the tragic extent of Tonga's hard drug epidemic, Mr Cook was one of just a handful frantically working to change it.
He knew the danger - his work made him unpopular with Tonga’s drug lords and people in high places.
“I know this is a dangerous field to work in and it could harm my life and my family's life,” Mr Cook told 1 NEWS in an interview last year.
“I get really emotional when I think about how we get abused and sworn at and threatened by these clients but we stayed because we want to help.”
Mr Cook used his own savings - he'd retired but dedicated to the Salvation Army he counselled addicts, going into communities, schools warning them about drug dealers
“They are targeting school kids. Drug dealers are relying on those kids being their regular meth buyer in the future,” he’d said.
Mr Cook was attacked on Friday evening while out walking near his home, he died in hospitalon Saturday.
On Thursday Mr Cook will be returned to New Zealand for his funeral, leaving behind a kingdom he loved.
- TVNZ
