Girl who helped save mum when her father was killed has died in car crash

Alanah Walker died in a car crash in Arrowtown on Saturday. Photo / Supplied

A girl who helped save her mum when her father was electrocuted eight years ago has died in a car crash at the weekend.

The Walker family of Arrowtown are mourning their second tragedy in less than 10 years after Allanah Walker, 17, died and two others were injured in a two-car crash on Malaghans Rd, near Arrowtown, shortly before 9.20pm on Saturday.

Allanah was a "real character" who made many friends during her years at Wakatipu High School, principal Steve Hall says.

In 2012, Allanah's father, Brendon, 39, also known as Frog, died after being electrocuted by a fallen power line while checking on stock on a farm near Kaikoura.

Her mother, Sarah, was knocked unconscious and burned when she went to help him.

The Press newspaper reported then how Allanah, then 9, did an "amazing" job after she and her brother Ethan ran home to raise the alarm.

The children rang their grandmother in Queenstown, who called emergency services, and when a St John emergency operator rang the house, Allanah and her brother answered questions about what had happened.

The operator told the newspaper the children were "amazing in very distressing circumstances".

Hall said Allanah, who left the school last year, was noticeably at ease among adults, and stood out in his memory for her habit of addressing him and another teacher by their first names, but in a respectful way.

"She was a friendly and likeable character, and I enjoyed our conversations."

Ethan was a pupil at the school and well-established processes would be put in place to ensure he was well cared for when he returned.

The "upsetting and incredibly sad event" was having an impact on staff and current and former pupils and their parents, many of whom had contacted him in the past two days.

Pupils had been told that help was available if they needed it, and in his experience, "they are good at looking after and looking out for each other".

Allanah's parents lived in Queenstown and Glenorchy for about five years from 2001 before moving to Kaikoura to pursue farming.

But the family retained close ties to the Wakatipu and eventually moved back to the area.

Sarah Walker declined an interview, but the family paid tribute to Allanah in a death notice in the Otago Daily Times yesterday.

It described her as the "awesome and amazing daughter of Sarah and the late Brendon (Frog), loved crazy big sister of Ethan", and granddaughter of Rosemary and Wayne Hill, of Queenstown.

A service will be held for Allanah in Queenstown tomorrow afternoon.

One of the two people injured in the crash, a man in his 20s, remains in a serious condition in Dunedin Hospital.

Police say inquiries are continuing into the circumstances of the crash.