When a fully-laden cattle truck rolled after speeding around a Topuni bend, it crushed the car of a 24-year-old volunteer firefighter. Rachelle Meijer was on her way home to Whangarei from a football game. That day, she was sentenced to a life of severe physical pain. Yesterday, the truck driver was sentenced to 200 hours community service. Kristin Edge reports.
Rachelle Meijer was a talented soccer player and volunteer firefighter on her way home from a football competition when a few moments' carelessness by a truck driver shattered her body and life forever.
Yesterday Ms Meijer, a 24-year-old engineer at Refining NZ was in court and spoke about the tragic consequences of the crash involving a fully-laden cattle truck driven by Ruautu Daniela on October 7 near Topuni.
Daniela pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving and was sentenced to 200 hours community service, ordered to pay emotional reparation of $9,000 and disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Ms Meijer described how the right side of her body had been crushed leaving her with a broken arm, leg, ankle, jaw and eye socket. She lost the sight in her right eye and explained how difficult it had been to adjust to an artificial eye. She spoke of living with a pain factor of seven out of 10 every day. Months later she still walks with a limp, has a brain injury and significant scarring on her body.