East & Bays Courier Auckland, New Zealand February 10, 2012
Firefighter Mike Tia had this anecdote to share about the late Meke Taufoou amid the devastating blow of losing two Auckland firefighters to cancer in 2011.
Mr Tia says when Mr Taufoou was in hospice a number of people came in to say goodbye. "There were close to 100 people there."
Mr Tia says you wouldn't think it but Mr Taufoou was a fan of Shania Twain.
He says while the visitors were there, the phone rang.
"It was Shania Twain. She had rung up to say goodbye."
Although Mr Taufoou could hardly talk and was seriously ill, "he managed to blurt out 'marry me'!"
He says the whole room erupted into laughter. Mr Taufoou died an hour later.
The phone call was arranged through a friend of a friend.