The officer had attended the accident in which Hastings woman Jocelyn Irene Williams, 38, died. The car was being driven by her husband, with her two children, 3 and 6 also inside, when it rolled into a ditch on State Highway 27, near Pohlen Rd, Matamata on Sunday afternoon.
He went on to describe the emotional scene of the crash that had left the deceased mother in the car and the rest of her family injured in ambulances, while her parents stood on watching.
"The victim's body was still in the car upside down in the ditch, the injured were now in the two ambulances that attended and we were waiting for the air ambulance helicopters to arrive."
The officer described seeing an older couple, standing with the fireman looking at the upside down car.
At first, when the officer spoke to the gentleman, Williams' father, he maintained an "unattached professional manner".
"He told me he was the victim's father, and he was in the car ahead of the crashed car, and heard it happen...I got all the kids' and victims' details.
"He then asked... 'My daughter is dead isn't she?' Oh hell, how do I react to that? He was teary, and so was I. I don't do tears and I don't do emotion.... up until that point. I think I mumbled 'yes she is'.
"To be confronted by a dad who has lost his daughter, a husband who has lost his wife, and two kiddies who have lost their mum, it just brought the tragedy home."
The husband and children were airlifted to Waikato Hospital but have since been discharged.
The officer said he was not sure what he hoped to achieve by sharing his experience publically.
"But I can just say that those of us in the emergency services have to deal with this sort of thing regularly. Each of us are affected and deal with what we see in our own way.
"3.53 am and I still can't sleep."
