Bus victim sat at front to avoid feeling sick

Ha Xuan Lam. Photo / Supplied

A young Vietnamese man was sitting at the front of a near-empty bus to prevent motion sickness the day an 80kg truck wheel smashed through the bus windscreen and struck him in the head.

Ha Xuan Lam was on a bus travelling between Manukau and Auckland last Thursday when the accident occurred.

Two wheels sheared off a Toll Tranzlink truck, and one slammed into the bus.

The wheel hit Mr Lam, 24, after it came through the windscreen and left him brain dead.

He died on Saturday at Auckland Hospital after his life support system was switched off.

Eleven passengers were on the bus, and Mr Lam was seated at the front left side.

His cousin, Dylan Tran, said he used the bus because he got motion sick and it was more convenient than the train.

"That's why he sat at the front, to get a better view ... to make him feel better."

Mr Tran drove past the crash scene on the Southern Motorway on his way to work.

"I just thought 'it's just another accident', and went to work. Then I got a call from my sister at home. She was just about to go to work as well and the police knock on the door and they said 'Ha has been in an accident, you better come and see him'."

His sister called him at work and he "dropped everything" to go to his cousin's bedside.

"He was already brain dead, we were told by the doctor."

His family in Auckland gathered to say goodbye before life support was switched off.

"It was a terrible moment. You wouldn't wish it on any family," Mr Tran said.

"He didn't deserve this."

His parents in Vietnam were so upset they were unfit to travel. His body will be flown home on January 21 after a funeral service in Auckland.

Mr Lam's parents were in New Zealand last month on holiday and asked Mr Tran to look after their son.

After the accident he wasn't able to ring them and tell them their son was brain dead.

"My Mum made the call, I had to get my Mum to do it," he said.

"At the moment I can't face the Mum and Dad.

"I feel like a failure because they gave me a responsibility to do."

Mr Lam came to New Zealand three months ago, leaving his parents and nine brothers and sisters behind. Initially he came to visit family, who left Vietnam when Mr Lam was a baby.

He liked the country so much he stayed and began studying English three days before the accident.

Mr Tran described him as friendly, someone who was nice to everyone and who made friends easily.

"He'd only been here three months and had more friends than me."

He would remember him as a "kind, lovely person".

"He will be sadly missed. Part of our hearts is missing."

Police and the bus company have begun investigations into how the truck's wheels came off.