Deaths of Featherston teens 'a lesson'

A vigil at St John's Church in Featherston for Hoani Korewha and Pacer Willacy-Scott, who died in a car crash in Masterton after fleeing from police. PHOTO/ANDREW BONALLACK

The deaths of two Featherston teens is a "wake up call", says a youth leader from the town.

All four of the teens involved in Sunday's fatal crash were members of the R2R youth group and facilitator Hope Sexton says the tragic consequences are a lesson to youth that they are not invincible.

Miss Sexton said she hoped young people would learn from the events of the weekend.

"As long as we just stick together and support the other youth -- who are taking it extremely hard -- but if anything it will make us stronger, the message of we aren't invincible and anything could happen to any one of us.

"It's going to give us an opportunity to sit down with these youth and say 'you're not invincible and this is a good wake-up call'."

It was a lesson for herself and for other youth in the town, Miss Sexton said.

The teens involved in the crash were young people who were still developing and learning, she said.

"They are going to make stupid choices and they think they are invincible but at the end of the day they are human beings and they are just another one of us."

Young people in the town were taking the news hard, she said.

"From what I've seen they are pretty distraught, they are finding it really tough to believe it, which is fair enough."

She had herself been "gutted" by the news of the deaths of Hoani Korewha and Pacer Willacy-Scott.

"A lot of people don't have time for these kids but I have a lot of time for them and to hear that ... I was pretty numb for a long time."

She would be doing her best to support the other young people in the town, as well as the families of the boys who had died.