KEY POINTS:
A woman killed by a runaway trailer that also seriously injured her
3-month-old adopted son was on her way to Auckland to pick up relatives for a family Christmas reunion.
The baby, Te Wai Puke, is fighting for his life in Starship Hospital after the car he was in smashed into a detached trailer in Northland this week.
The accident, which happened on Wednesday night in Whakapara, 23km
northwest of Whangarei, killed his adoptive mother, Miriam Matene, 44.
Matene's body was yesterday being held at the Matai Ara Nui Marae in
Whirinaki for her tangi.
Her grandfather, Wiki Rawriri, 86, said Matene was "an exceptionally
bright woman" who was looking forward to a Christmas family reunion
that she was organising.
"She was going to Auckland Airport with Te Wai Puke to pick up her
family when the crash happened."
Matene's brother Goff Rawriri said she was the third member of her family to die on Northland's treacherous roads.
"It's very sad for us. Her older brother and mother died about the same area in vehicle crashes a few years ago. The young boy is very lucky to be alive."
Whangarei police acting sergeant Steve Simpkin said investigations revealed the trailer was being towed by a light truck when it detached between Puhipuhi and Waiotu Block roads at 7pm. The trailer crashed
into Matene's car and she died at the scene.
Rawriri did not want to lay blame on the drive of the truck and trailer but said he felt sorry for him.
"It is something he will have to live with for the rest of his days.
"It was not an act of God that she died, it was an act of negligence that the trailer was not attached properly."
The baby is recovering in intensive care at Starship.
Matene's body will be laid to rest at 11am tomorrow at the Puke
Koukou cemetery in Whirinaki.
A 51-year-old Harley Davidson motorcycle rider was killed when he missed a sharp corner on another Northland road yesterday.
The motorcycle was part of a convoy travelling east from Poroti to Whangarei on Kokopu Rd.