Jaki Manu

Jaki Manu is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street. She was portrayed by Nancy Brunning and was part of the original cast.

Storylines

1992-1994

Jaki was introduced as the strong yet sweet Maori nurse who got on with all the staff but had a fiery temper. In mid 1992, Jaki pricked herself with a needle that had been used on an HIV positive patient, Deborah. The storyline hinted at the stigma of having the disease as Jaki initially hid her HIV scare from her friends and co-workers, and when they finally learned what was going on, Marj was openly hostile towards her, believing that Jaki was contagious. Jaki's other co-workers, having been trained as medical professionals, were more understanding. They set Marj (and by extension, the viewers) straight about how HIV was transmitted. After many months, Jaki was cleared of the disease. Jaki met Black Caps cricketer Henry Tamariki, instantly hitting it off. The two soon started dating.

Jaki started off 1993 by leading a nurse's strike whilst forming a relationship with cricket star Henry Tamariki. CEO Michael McKenna eventually backed down to Jaki's demands and Jaki used her negotiating skills to act as Henry's agent, negotiating a series of lucrative sponsorship deals for him. However, the couple's relationship was strained during an MRSA outbreak (that Henry had inadvertently caused by bringing the illness back with him after a trip to Australia) when Jaki neglected Henry (both on the professional and personal front)and focused all her energies on attending to the outbreak. Jaki eventually tried to patch things up with Henry, only to find him in bed with another woman. Jaki broke up with Henry. Jaki faced a moral dilemma when she developed feelings for Rob Hawkins, the partner of terminally ill cancer patient Dani Brown. The two shared a kiss on the pier, but initially decided to remain friends. However, when Dani took off for a trip to Florence without Rob, Jaki and Rob began a full-fledged affair which came to a halt when Rob learned that Dani had taken ill. Rob brought Dani back to Shortland Street where Dani asked Jaki to help her die. Jaki refused Dani's euthanasia request and was later stunned when Dani revealed that she had known all along about Jaki and Rob's secret relationship and gave Jaki her blessing for it to continue. With Rob's help, Dani later died on the same day that Carrie gave birth, leaving Jaki and Rob free to be together. However, Jaki could not get past the fact Rob had helped Dani die and realised that Rob would not be able to get over his lingering feelings for Dani and decided to end their relationship. Jaki attended Alison Raynor's marriage overseas and later helped Alison hide in New Zealand when her husband turned out to be the head of an evil corporation. When Carrie left, Jaki was promoted to nursing manager.

In 1994, Henry returned to Ferndale and Jaki was openly hostile towards him. It was discovered he had a very serious knee injury and he was not willing to exercise it as he was still in love with Jaki. Jaki got back together with him with the promise that he would give up cricket. Jaki was demoted after Chris gave her inaccurate drug readings and blamed it on her. Jaki decided to leave Ferndale with Henry and together the happy couple left Shortland Street for London.