Online plea to help crash victim

Five-year-old Luka Herewini-Kelsen is in a critical condition in Auckland's Starship Hospital. Photo/Supplied

A Facebook page and an online donation account have been set up to help the family of a 5-year-old girl badly injured in a crash near Russell last week.

Luka Herewini-Kelsen suffered life-threatening head injuries in a head-on crash on the Russell-Whakapara road last Wednesday and remains in a critical condition in Auckland's Starship Hospital.

Luka lives in Kaitaia with her twin brother Koda and mother Kimberley Herewini-Kelsen. She had been visiting her father in Waitangi at the time of the crash. Koda was uninjured.

The founder of the Facebook support page wrote: "We know how stressful this time can be when trying to care for a loved one in a hospital far from home, at the same time as taking care of the rest of your children. To help Luka's whanau we have set up a fundraising webpage where you can make donations safely and securely."

Donations would be passed on to the family four weeks after payments had cleared but anyone who wanted to make an immediate donation could arrange it by private message.

"This fund will go directly to Luka's mother for whatever their family needs to support them through this difficult time. We pray Luka will make a full recovery and that we will all get to see her lovely smile again soon," the page administrator wrote.

The page was set up on Tuesday. By 10am on Wednesday it had 113 "likes" and $300 in donations.

Go to www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/forluka to make a donation or the Facebook page "For Luka" for more information.