A parking company has apologised after fining a woman for overstaying in a supermarket car park on the day she suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be brought back to life.

The 54-year-old collapsed in the car park of a New World supermarket in Orewa, on Auckland’s Hibiscus Coast, on July 26.

Her father, Keith Wilkinson, said supermarket staff quickly rushed to help and put up privacy screens, while a stranger took charge and began performing chest compressions after being unable to find a pulse.

‘The stranger just melted away once my daughter had regained a pulse and St John ambulance arrived on the scene, before anyone could thank her,’ Mr Wilkinson told Stuff, describing her actions as ‘truly remarkable’. 

Paramedics later told the family that the woman’s heart had stopped and that ‘momentarily, she was technically dead’, according to Mr Wilkinson. 

She was taken by ambulance to North Shore Hospital, leaving her car behind in the supermarket car park. 

Customers are permitted to park there for 90 minutes, but her vehicle remained for around five-and-a-half hours while she received emergency treatment.

Days after surviving the medical emergency, the woman received an $80 (£35) breach notice from parking operator Smart Compliance Management.

A parking company has apologised after fining a woman for overstaying in a supermarket car park on the day she suffered a cardiac arrest and had to be brought back to life

The 54-year-old collapsed in the car park of a New World supermarket in Orewa, on Auckland’s Hibiscus Coast, on July 26

Her family explained what had happened and appealed the charge, but the company initially refused to waive it and instead reduced the amount to a $30 (£13) administration fee.

An email from the company said: ‘Smart Compliance Management has been contracted to provide fair and equal opportunity for parking at this car park. This is why a maximum stay time limit applies.

‘Customers are entitled to 90 minutes of parking. Your vehicle was parked for 341 minutes.

‘Having considered your appeal in detail we have decided to uphold the Breach Notice as we believe that it was correctly issued in accordance with the terms and conditions advertised within the area concerned.

‘Due to the circumstances resulting in this Breach Notice, we are able to reduce this to a $30 administration fee.’

Mr Wilkinson said the family found the demand ‘offensive’ after years of being loyal customers of the supermarket.

His daughter nevertheless paid the $30 (£13) because the dispute was causing her stress.

Staff at New World Orewa later intervened and paid the money back into her account, a resolution Mr Wilkinson described as ‘fair’.

Steve McClean, owner-operator of New World Orewa, said the supermarket contacted Smart Compliance as soon as staff became aware of what had happened and asked for the notice to be withdrawn and the fee refunded.

‘This was a deeply distressing situation for the customer and their family, and I’m sorry this caused them additional stress and inconvenience,’ he said.

Smart Compliance has since apologised, admitting its initial handling of the case failed to properly consider the exceptional circumstances.

A spokesman said the company apologised for the ‘additional stress caused to this individual following their medical emergency’ and acknowledged its initial response did not ‘appropriately take into account the circumstances of the case’.

‘We have since reinforced our processes and provided further guidance to our team to support consistent decision-making in exceptional circumstances,’ they added.

Mr McClean said the supermarket uses a third-party provider to manage its car park and ensure spaces remain available for customers.

‘It’s important that parking rules are applied fairly and with common sense,’ he said.

‘Given the circumstances, I completely understand why the customer and their family were upset, and I’m pleased the right thing has now happened.’