Sun 7 Aug 2016 In: Our Communities View at Wayback View at NDHA
Designer, Auckland Pride board member, model and performer Zakk d'Larte is a stand-out figure around the Auckland glbti scene. Photos of Zakk thanks to: AJ Major Slim and delicately built, he often adds to his willowy height with massively platform-heeled boots and accentuates his look with the kind of hair styles which usually only models in avant-garde magazines can carry off. He conveys an eye-catching blend of emotional confidence and physical vulnerability. He's from the Mika Haka stable of young performers. Take one look at Zakk and you know he's a living, self-created artwork, not a bruiser. It's something he admits was likely going through the mind of the "large, stocky man" who brutally attacked and robbed him as of his iPhone near the Westfield, Otahuhu, train station, one of Auckland's more physically isolated and grim suburban train platforms. "He tackled me down from behind and began using my hair to slam my head into the gravel repeatedly," d'Larte says after being discharged from hospital to recover from injuries but still finding speaking difficult. "He began punching my face and trying to rip my phone out of my hands. I held onto it for as long as I could until eventually he snapped both my acrylic and real nails and it went flying. He held me down by my neck and told me to stay down. He rummaged through my pockets for money, tossing my body around as he did so." "I think I was an easy target, because of how delicate and fragile I am. Also my smaller body size made it easy to tackle me down. " As the approximately six-minutes of violence came to an end the attacker "walked away from me while facing me, until he turned and sprinted down Portage Road. I took my platforms off and bolted after him but lost track of where he ran to. My legs eventually gave way and I slumped down and sobbed in the cul-de-sac with a swollen face and blood dripping from my hands and forehead." d'Larte had been heading for the station to return home after meeting with one of his design clients. Now he was a beaten-up mess. As you would hope in such an extreme situation a stranger came to his rescue. "There was an amazing man I met afterwards who gave me water, collected my bag and shoes, and called the ambulance and police for me. His name was Lucky... the police separated us and I never got time to thank him for everything." Treated at the scene and whisked off to hospital, d'Larte had concussion, and tunnel vision, he says. "At the start there was potentially a broken jaw, and [broken] eye socket. Now that the swelling has subdued, thankfully this was wrong. I have multiple traumas to the head. Half of my face is swollen and purple now. My cheek is almost blocking the vision from my right eye. Gouges on my knees. Cuts and scraps on my hands and wrists. Bruising to my collar bone and shoulder." And he adds, a "shattered nail bed." "He stole my iPhone 6+, broke my headphones. He went through my pockets and phone case demanding cash but I didn't have any. Thankfully he wasn't smart enough to take any of my cards, as they all have pay wave." Asked if he thought there was a homophobic aspect to the attack he says "I don't want to believe so. In 2012, when this happened the first time - that was definitely a hate crime, and was because they were embarrassed. You wrote about it here." Emotionally, he says, he's now "okay." "I've handled this before and came out stronger, and this time won't be any different. I saw some of the people who got off the next train after the incident and walked past me, and I am glad that he chose me as his target, because the reality is, I can take it. I saw young members of our Rainbow community walk past me. They shouldn't have to take it. I'm strong enough and willing to be a catalyst for difference and to evoke change in this world. Physically, I am recovering and heavily drugged for the pain caused by the offender. I am walking for Fashion Week in two weeks, so fingers crossed I am recovered!" As for his attacker d'Larte hopes the police can track the man down. "If he was willing to do this to me, who knows how many people past and future he may do it to, and he needs to have consequences for his actions, more than just a slap on the hand." Jay Bennie - 7th August 2016