Family ask for support for Kerikeri stalwart Keri Molloy after ‘horrible’ crash

Keri Molloy suffered substantial injuries in a three-vehicle crash last month.

The family of Kerikeri community stalwart Keri Molloy are seeking support for her speedy recovery after she suffered serious injuries in a three-vehicle crash in the Far North.

Emergency services were called to the crash in Taupō Bay Rd on State Highway 10 about noon on February 18.

“It was a really scary and traumatic experience for all of us,” Molloy’s eldest daughter, Kate Sterling, said.

She said the crash had left her mother with a long list of injuries, including a fractured pelvis and spine, lacerations to her liver and spleen, and a broken nose.

A Givealittle page has been set up to help ease the pressure on Molloy and her family.

Sterling said on the day of the crash , her mum and her 14-year-old daughter had planned to visit a nearby beach to surf.

She remembers spending some time with her friends back in Kerikeri when she received a “distress” call from her daughter about noon.

“I could hear her cry and tell me how they barely survived a horrible crash on Taupō Bay Rd. I was shocked,” Sterling said.

After the mother reached the crash site, her daughter explained how they were trying to take a right turn from Bay Rd when a car rear-ended their vehicle and pushed them into the opposite lane and oncoming traffic.

“Thankfully, my daughter only got away with minor injuries, but my mum didn’t, sadly. While we waited for the ambulance I sat by my mum’s side and held her hands and reassured her that everything would be all right.”

During her airlift to Whangārei Hospital, she could see her mum put up a brave face to the agony she was in.

The news of Molloy’s’s hospitalisation quickly prompted many in the Kerikeri community to lend their support. Her youngest daughter, Amy Molloy, living in Western Australia flew in to check on her mum’s condition.

“She still puts everyone else’s welfare first before hers. When she heard I was coming over, she told me that I didn’t need to take the trouble of coming over.

“My mum just has this beautiful approach to life. And I’m happy to see her so positive and strong in the face of all she had to go through,” Amy said.

Keri’s improved health means she has been moved from the intensive care unit to the general ward.

In 2019, Kerikeri stalwart Keri Molloy called for better access to Taronui Bay. Photo / NZME

Both the sisters believed their mum’s resilience blossomed from her decades working as a journalist and artist.

Their mother arrived in Kerikeri in the mid-80s with her late husband and journalist Bob Molloy from South Africa.

Sterling said both her parents had initially come to Aotearoa on a holiday and instantly fell in love with the country, which they believed was a “better place to stay” amidst the tense political atmosphere in the African continent.

“Since then, my mum has worked hard to serve the interests of the community and Northland. Although mum still freelances as a journalist. Her last fulltime job was at The Bay Chronicle as an editor almost a decade ago.”

She remembers how Mum loved to talk about her stories, including her coverage of the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior bombing by French agents in Auckland in 1985.

“Mum also had an activist side to her. I remember her successful campaign to have public access to our coastline around the Bay of Islands where most of the accesses were private,” Sterling said.

Keri Molloy's Whangaroa Harbour exhibit at the Porcine Gallery in 2004. Photo / NZME

Her younger sibling Amy added that Molloy was also a brilliant oil painter who had her art exhibited at several places.

“She also snowboards, surfs and was once a skilful trapeze artist, until she injured one of her shoulders,” she said.

Speaking to the Advocate on a phone call, Molloy expressed her heartful thanks to the community who have shown their support.

“I’d really like to thank everyone including the hospital staff for being so outstanding in what they do,” she said.

Avneesh Vincent is the crime and emergency services reporter at the Northern Advocate. He was previously at the Gisborne Herald as the arts and environment reporter and is passionate about covering stories that can make a difference. He joined NZME in July 2023.