Donna Heka | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shortland Street character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Stephanie Tauevihi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 1997–2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | 1 October 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last appearance | Episode 3140 25 December 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Simon Bennett (1997) Harriet Crampton (2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Donna Heka (also Bennett) is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, who was portrayed by Stephanie Tauevihi from 1997 to mid-2004 and again for a two episode stint in December 2004.
Donna arrived in 1997 as a potential love interest for established character Rangi Heremaia (Blair Strang). What followed, became one of Shortland Street's most iconic storylines, with the happy couple discovering they were, in fact, related. The story arc carried on for 2 years when the two realised they were not related and married on the show's 2000th episode. Despite Rangi being killed off, Donna continued on the show and soon became one of the show's longest running characters. Storylines for Donna included being framed for murder, suffering a mental breakdown and kidnapping a baby, helping clear Victor (Calvin Tuteao) of murder and becoming Chris Warner's (Michael Galvin) mistress. The character departed in mid-2004 before returning in a two episode stint on Christmas the same year.
The character's romance with Rangi is remembered as hugely iconic as well as the characters long duration.