Te Rangitahi "Rangi" Heremaia is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street who was portrayed by Blair Strang from 1995 to 2001 and again in a cameo in 2022.
Other memorable storylines for the character include his romance with Rachel McKenna (Angela Bloomfield), two car accidents (one of which left him paralyzed), getting stabbed twice, recovering from paraplegia and his girlfriend dying as he was about to propose.
The character survived the 2001 cast overhaul only for Strang to quit the show due to a "stress related illness".
Whilst studying law, Blair Strang won the role of Rangi, who was to be a stereotypical northerner and a four-month recurring character.
[3] However Strang's girlfriend - Katrina Devine who portrayed Minnie Crozier was deeply upset as her character had been part of the axing.
The arrival of his son Toka (Redmond McCarthy) and ex-girlfriend proved poor for his relationship with Rachel but the two stayed together even when Rangi had an affair with Rebecca Frost (Luisa Burgess).
Rangi started to date fellow paramedic Donna Heka (Stephanie Tauevihi) but the romance was cut short following the revelation they were in fact siblings.
Rangi went into hiding and Donna helped him through the ordeal shortly before fellow paramedic Mark Shawn (Tony MacIver) was revealed as the true culprit.
There are lots of soft, gentle moments between [Donna and Rangi] which is really nice to play out when you've been doing the angst-ridden, angry, pent-up, can't talk about it stuff.
[11] The incestuous relationship between Rangi and Donna proved to be one of the soap's most iconic storylines, with the wedding episode being singled out as one of Shortland Street's best bits.