Life And Society

Walking in gunman's footsteps to reclaim peace

13:33 pm on 3 March 2022

On March 15, 2019, Temel Atacocugu was praying at Al Noor mosque when he was shot nine times.

In the name of creating a peaceful future, and despite significant injuries, Temel is currently walking from Dunedin to Christchurch - the same path taken by the terrorist that day.

While on a break in Palmerston, Temel tells Jesse Mulligan his body is starting to get tired but he's getting great support from drivers and people on the street.

Listen to Temel Atacocugu on Afternoons

On his 360km walk, Temel is fundraising for three charities. You can follow his progress on Facebook.

Raising awareness for mental health support is a big part of Temel's motivation for the walk.

He suffers from extreme PTSD and says he and his fellow mosque attack survivors will need mental health support for the rest of their lives.

'What I witnessed on that day after he'd gone, nobody would ever wish to see that. It was terrible.

"Everybody was innocent on that day - [the people] who lost their lives, [the people] who is injured and [the people] who were witnesses."

As well as mental health recovery, Temel has had to put a lot of effort into his physical healing over the last three years - he's had at least major 10 surgeries and many more small ones.

"It is really painful physically dealing with these injuries and surgeries because of lots of shrapnel in my body. They are moving and often touching my nerves.

"In my normal life they are sometimes giving me a hard time, to stay on my knees or when I do gardening or when I"m walking up the hill, down the hill."

Temel says one of the reasons he chose New Zealand as a place to settle with his family was because it was a peaceful country.

His Walk of Peace is a way of taking action to ensure future generations get to live in safety.

"I have boys, two sons, and I have to make sure their future is secure and peaceful."

"What I will get from this journey is a more beautiful and peaceful New Zealand for my grandkids.

"We are borrowing this earth from our future generations and we have to keep it clean tidy and peaceful for them."

Temel Atacocugu​ on RNZ: