KEY POINTS:
Two communities were united in grief yesterday as they remembered six children who died in separate tragedies last week. In Auckland, the badly injured father of two of the four children killed in a house fire left his hospital bed to speak of his love for his lost family.
And at Pirongia in the Waikato Kylie Nicholas was surrounded by family and hundreds of locals at the funeral of her daughter Jaiden, 10, and son Kade, 7, who died alongside their father Justin Nicholas in a car crash last Saturday night. His funeral has not yet been held.
Misi Sa'u Evile spent three days convincing doctors and nurses at Middlemore Hospital to let him go to the funeral of his step-daughter Brenda Simati, 15, and her 1-year-old nephew Tyreece Simati, who died in a Mangere blaze on Monday night.
Hundreds of mourners gathered at Faith City Church in Manukau to pay tribute to the pair, buried in a single white coffin, as well as Evile's two daughters Taua, 11, and Mia, 7.
With his head swathed in bandages, and a family member standing behind him for support, Misi Sa'u Evile said only his Christian faith gave him the strength to speak of his grief.
"It is a privilege and an honour to be here on behalf on my wife and family to say a few words, words that cannot explain the tragedy that has happened."
Evile and wife Fetu were seriously injured trying to rescue the children after chip oil caught fire in the kitchen.
He said Tyreece was his "baby angel", someone who could "run as soon as he could walk".
Brenda's sister, Faafetai Simati, remembered how excited she was when she discovered she was pregnant with Tyreece.
"I wanted a baby girl but as soon as I laid eyes on him I was so happy. He would sit on my head to wake me up and pull my hair," said Faafetai, supported by brother Mao and sister Tuailoa.
"He would shut the door in the laundry and put his head through the catdoor. Mama and mum were his only two words."
Fifteen-year-old Brenda, who attended Otahuhu College, was remembered as a bubbly, attractive teenager who loved to shop and be with her friends.
"She was so vain," laughed her sister Tuailoa Simati. "She always knew to have her good side to the camera when it flashed.
"I love you Brenda. Everyone is here for you. She would have loved this today, being the centre of attention."
Nearly 30 members of the Simati-Evile family are flying to Christchurch today for the funeral of Taua and Mia Evile tomorrow.
In Pirongia, it was standing room only at the school where Jaiden and Kade had been pupils.
The crowd waited outside in total silence as their two tiny white coffins were carried inside and placed at the front of the school hall.
The siblings were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck near Hamilton.
The only survivor was their 3-year-old sister Tia, who was plucked from the wreckage by Paula Munro and is still in hospital.
Parents and the children's classmates wept as celebrant Val Millington-Nicholas, Justin's step-mother, took the mourners through Jaiden and Kade's short but happy lives.
Jaiden's favourite songs by Hannah Montana were played, followed by a trumpet duet of Somewhere Over The Rainbow, played by their aunt Shakira Nicholas and cousin Hamish Davies.
Kylie sat in the front row surrounded by family and friends. A close friend read her heart-wrenching tribute of love for her two children. It was the second time Kylie had to bury a child as she had a stillborn daughter before Tia was born.
The emotion overflowed with Kylie's words for Jaiden and Kade. "What I would give for one more hug. This is not a day I ever imagined would happen."
Kylie said Jaiden was a beautiful baby with long dark hair she would put into pigtails. "I would change her clothes six times a day, she was my little doll."
She described her only son as a Bob the Builder fan in his younger years who loved hoarding his boxes of preschool memories under his bed.
Kylie thanked Paula and others who helped at the scene and ended her eulogy with hope for Tia's future.
"I owe Tia a good life, not misery and sad news. I don't know what the future looks like but we will go on."
Jaiden and Kade's classmates then sang the school song as if drawing strength from the lyrics - "we have the courage, we have the skill, we have the strategy, the form we will".
The children formed a line of honour as Jaiden and Kade's coffins were carried out and they left their school for the last time.
Carrying purple, pink, white and blue balloons in their hands, the children waited in silence to place floral tributes on their coffins. As the hearse drove away, the pupils released the hundreds of balloons into the air and watched them carried into the sky.
* To make a donation to the Evile family, please contact The National Bank Evile Family Relief Fund, account: 06-0359-0267692-00.
