Mum in Napier-Taupo highway crash "real hero"

The Napier-Taupo road - State Highway Five - is a stretch of road that motorists are frequently asked to take care on.

A helper who was one of the first on the scene of a crash between Napier and Taupo says the real hero of the day was the injured driver in the accident who managed to climb a steep bank and raise the alarm.

The helper, who did not want to be named, said the crash victims were lucky to have multiple people stop and help them.

Amongst the helpers was Miss Universe New Zealand 2017 winner, Harlem-Cruz Ihaia and her partner Codee Broughton. Ihaia was enroute to Auckland to hand over her crown last Thursday.

The crash was on the Napier-Taupo highway, just north of the intersection with Pohokura Rd.

The helper who was first on the scene said the accident victims were lucky to have multiple people to help, including a nurse administering first aid until paramedics arrived.

"It was definitely a very frightening scene to come across and thank goodness everybody was rescued safely. Myself and a truck driver were first on the scene and in the river rescuing the children (a four year old girl and her brother) and the grandmother, followed closely by a man in his 50s that brought us some rope and a first aid kit.

"There were multiple men, including Codee, holding onto branches on the side of the river and helping to grab the car's occupants as the truckie, the other man and myself brought them from the car, across the river and to the side of the bank where they were then hoisted up the bank. There was also a nurse that arrived on the scene and was administering First Aid until paramedics arrived."

"In my opinion, the real hero is actually the mother who, after crashing her car, injured and in a state of shock, managed to climb up the steep gorse-covered bank on her own and raise the alarm to save the lives of her children and her mother."

"It was definitely a very frightening scene to come across and thank goodness everybody was rescued safely."