Sam Vaea and wife Mele Latu Vaea at home in Onehunga. Photo / Doug Sherring
Sam Vaea and wife Mele Latu Vaea at home in Onehunga. Photo / Doug Sherring
Two weeks ago, 11 people died on the roads in one weekend. It was New Zealand’s worst toll in a single weekend since 2010. Simon Plumb looks at the impact these tragedies have had on those who remain.
Samiuela Vaea says his life and family were torn apart in an instant when three loved ones died.
Vaea's mother, sister and sister-in-law lost their lives and another seven people were injured after the van in which they were travelling from Auckland to Tauranga, for a Mother's Day reunion collided with another vehicle on State Highway 2 near Te Puna.
Adding to the pain, Samiuela Vaea and his wife Mele saw it all unfold from the car they were following in.
Samiuela is still in shock about the accident two weeks ago which claimed the lives of his mother Tevunga, 71, sister Louina, 45, and sister-in-law Takua, 32, but has bravely spoken of three beloved and selfless family members.
"The thing with those three was anything you could ever need, if you called them, they would do whatever they could to help you. Especially if it was for any of the kids," Vaea told the Herald on Sunday.
"Nana would always call in and Louina was always making clothes for the kids. Takua was only just in her 30s, it's so sad for her life to be lost so early.
"We miss them all terribly. Everyone is still in shock. It's all happened too quickly."
He took on a lot of the organisational responsibilities in the busy days after the incident, so the pain of the loss is still very raw. He acknowledges things could have been even worse.
On a weekend in which 11 lives were claimed on New Zealand's roads, the worst toll in a single weekend since November 2010, six others in the van involved in the Vaea crash survived, including 2-year-old girl Feba Vaea.
"It is like a miracle that a baby only got minor burns," he said.
"I haven't really grieved yet.
The past week has just been running around, getting everything ready and looking after the extended family coming from overseas.
"This is the first time we've spoken to people outside of our friends or family about it. We've just been keeping busy and being around family."
As well as the 11 people who died, 17 were also hospitalised.
For each death and injury a ripple effect goes way beyond the statistics.
Road police boss Dave Cliff has suggested some rural roads might need lower speed limits.
Cliff also said that "to lose this many [in one weekend] is extraordinarily unusual" and that "by the end of 2015 another 180 people will be killed on New Zealand roads.
"Another 1800 will end up seriously injured in the country's hospitals before the end of the year".
More than 500 people turned out to pay their respects at the combined funeral for Samiuela's family members.
"The elders just wanted to put them to rest. It's good that everyone has been here, we've given each other strength.
"That's been the main thing, being together."
TE PUNA:
Tevunga Vaea, 71, Louina Vaea, 45, and Takua Vaea, 32, of Auckland
Tevunga Vaea and her daughter Louina and daughter-in-law Takua Vaea were involved with the Tongan Methodist Church in Onehunga. They were always giving, said grieving family spokesman Samiuela Vaea.
"The thing with those three was anything you could ever need, if you called them, they would do whatever they could to help you. Especially if it was for any of the kids."
MARTON:
Jennifer Susan Town, 41, of Whanganui
Town was married to Willy and mum to Zane, who died alongside her, as well as Rachel, Nicole and Hayden. She was also a grandmother to Lucas and was known for her love of children. She worked as an in-home carer, her brother Michael Peck told the Wanganui Chronicle.
"She had three or four little children she looked after in her home. I had the opportunity to see her with them and she was so loving with them."
Zane William Town, 14, of Whanganui Like his mum, Zane's heart was open to children. His uncle, Michael Peck, said Zane was "gentle and kind" with his siblings and nephew. "He always had time for them."
The Wanganui High School student loved go-karting and the family is understood to have been returning from a karting meet when the tragedy occurred.
Judy Daryl Redfearn, 68, of Palmerston North Redfearn had been married to husband Fred for 46 years when she died. She was a mum of two and a grandmother of four.
CLEVEDON:
Darin Patrick Joseph McKay, 54, of Remuera
McKay was married to Kate and father to Tom, Leo and Juliet. In a death notice, Kate wrote: "My heart is broken, you are the love of my life, enjoy your rest, until we meet again."
Friends who set up a givealittle page for the family described McKay as a fantastic husband and father who "loved his kids unconditionally".
HAKATARAMEA VALLEY, OTAGO:
Jarrad Ethan Blackler, 23, of Waitaki
Grieving friends and family have described Blackler as a dedicated rugby player, a music-lover who taught himself to play guitar and someone who always "had a smile on his face".
He attended Waitaki Boys' High School before working as a shepherd at Haldon Station in the Mackenzie Basin for five years. He had recently returned to the family farm and his family said in a statement Blackler had made many plans for the future.
WARKWORTH:
Karl McCallion, 46, of Pohuehue, Warkworth
Karl McCallion was a great dad to his two sons. He won't get the chance to be a great grandad.
"My dad was a good man, we all miss him so much. Cory and I had a great upbringing with him," McCallion's son Joe told the Herald on Sunday. "The part that breaks my heart is that my dad never got to meet his grandson, Harley, [who is] two months old now."
The brothers live in Christchurch and did not realise how many friends their dad had in Auckland, so they held a special service for him in Auckland before he was buried in Kaikoura with his father and brothers.
CHRISTCHURCH:
Grant Wayne Corlett, 53, and his childhood friend David Anthony Evans, 50, both of Warkworth
Corlett, a father of four, and Evans, a father of two, were friends since childhood. Corlett's partner, Brenda Hobson, and Evans' wife Jodi, want them to be remembered together.
"To us, Grant and David aren't a statistic or a picture on a page, they're husbands, dads, sons, and best mates who we counted on sharing our future moments with. Losing them from our lives leaves us facing an eternal blank screen where those future moments of hugs, advice, laughter and love should have been."
