Man dies in horror smash

Tauranga Hospital psychiatrist Davin Tan has described how a man's life ``just faded away' as he desperately tried to save him after a car crash on Saturday night.
The 37-year-old Te Kauwhata man, a backseat passenger, died when two cars collided about 8pm on State Highway 29 near the intersection with Belk Rd. The female driver of one of the vehicles was trapped as her car caught fire. She was one of three people taken to Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries.
Dr Tan was at home nearby when he heard the shrill noise of brakes, then a loud crash.
Rushing out of his house, Dr Tan was confronted with the sight of a Subaru and Volkswagen _ both mangled after they collided head-on.
Dr Tan was one of the first on the scene and climbed into the Subaru to give CPR to the 37-year-old man who was slumped unconscious in the back seat.
As hard as he tried to save the man, Dr Tan's efforts were in vain. The man died a few minutes later.
The sole occupant of the Volkswagen Passat, a 23-year-old Tauranga woman, was trapped in her car which was on fire. One person managed to put out the blaze.
The woman had suffered serious head injuries. She underwent surgery for internal injuries and remained today in a critical but stable condition in Tauranga Hospital's intensive care unit.
Dr Tan, 26, said there was not much he could do to help the man in the Subaru.
"His pupils weren't reacting and the only sign of life was a very slow pulse ... He died about 4-5 minutes after I got to the scene.
"His chest was very soft and I felt a number of cracked ribs and he possibly had a collapsed lung as well. His life just faded away pretty quickly."
The Subaru was heading towards Matamata.
In the front sat an 18-year-old Hamilton man and a 19-year-old man, who is believed to not be from the Western Bay. It has not been confirmed who was driving.
Both were taken to Tauranga Hospital with serious injuries.
The younger man suffered hip, pelvis, leg and head injuries while the other man received abdominal and possible pelvis injuries.
Both were stable and comfortable this morning.
Dr Tan, 26, said when he first got to the scene the other two men were out of the car lying on the ground being tended to.
The injured woman was still trapped in her car which was on fire, he said.
One person was trying to cut the fuel line and managed to put out a big fireball with a fire extinguisher.
The car was so smashed up that the steering wheel had been pushed right up to the woman's abdomen, pinning her in her seat. She was moaning and complaining of stomach pain, Dr Tan said.
After satisfying himself that the other two men were "okay" and the woman was still breathing and had a pulse, he decided the unconscious man was the most seriously injured and ran back to him to help.
Dr Tan said the man had not been wearing a seatbelt and he suspects his chest either struck the front seats or the dashboard on impact, as he was slumped in the middle section of the back seat.
Dr Tan paid tribute to the fire service, police and ambulance staff who responded within minutes and also members of the public who stopped to help tend the injured, including a Tauranga Hospital nurse.
Dr Tan's prospective in-laws Neil and Wendy Mossop, of Mossop's Honey, also assisted emergency service staff at the scene. The road was closed for four hours.