Teenager Rochelle Elston had been working hard milking cows to save money for a trip to the Gold Coast with her father.
But the 17-year-old died two days after her Honda Integra flipped on her way home from work in Takapau, Central Hawkes Bay, on Easter Monday.
Her death took
the Easter road toll to 12, the highest in 18 years. Twenty-one people have died in seven days in crashes which police say have involved alcohol, speed and fatigue.
Police believe Miss Elston was not wearing a seatbelt when her car left the road, hit a grassy bank, catapulting her out of one of the windows, and rolled several times before landing on its roof in a paddock.
The teenager's mother, Joanne Steed, told the Herald that about 40 friends and family crowded Wellington Hospital's intensive care unit before her daughter's life support was turned off on Wednesday.
Rochelle had been working at the Springfield Dairies farm since 5am on Monday and was heading back to the home of her aunt and uncle, Garry and Glenda Steed, where she was staying.
She had worked at the farm for about a week and was to fly to Australia on April 20 for 10 days.
Joanne Steed said her daughter was an only child and lived with her and her partner in Haumoana, near Napier. She was doing an early-childhood course via correspondence.
"She wasn't pretty, she was beautiful. There wasn't a blemish on her. She had one freckle.
"She enjoyed being the centre of attention, she was absolutely vibrant, stunning."
Glenda Steed said her niece wasn't "your typical farm girl".
"She was working extremely long hours and working really hard, which her mum and I found quite amusing because Rochelle was the kind of person who would never be seen outside the door without her mascara on.
"One morning ... she was just covered head to foot in cow manure, it was plastered to her hair, it was all over her face and she was really happy. She was exhausted but she was happy. We had a lot of fun with her while she was here," Glenda Steed said.
Senior Constable Chris Pye, of the Hastings serious crash unit, said there were no witnesses to the incident but a passing motorist saw Miss Elston lying on the side of the road and called emergency services.
The holiday period, from last Thursday to 6am on Tuesday, finished with the highest Easter toll since 1992, when there were also 12 deaths.
Since Tuesday, six more crashes have left nine people dead.
In the latest fatal crash, a pedestrian was killed when struck by a vehicle on State Highway 33 at Paengaroa, between Rotorua and Te Puke, just before 5pm yesterday.
Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross of Tauranga said the 92-year-old woman, a resident of Paengaroa, was crossing the road in a 70km/h area.
"It does not appear at this stage that speed or alcohol were factors in the accident."
Police are also investigating a triple fatality on State Highway 2 in Dannevirke which killed a 2-year-old girl and her 36-year-old father, who were travelling in one car, and a 73-year-old woman in another car.
The toddler's mother, who had been asleep while her husband drove, suffered broken bones, and a second elderly woman suffered broken ribs. They were flown to Palmerston North Hospital. Police said speed and alcohol might have been factors in the crash.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old Israeli woman has been charged with two counts of careless driving causing death after an English couple on holiday were killed in a two-car crash in Southland on Wednesday.
Robert Anthony Hindle, 73, died at the scene and his 64-year-old wife, Ann Hindle, died three hours later in Southland Hospital.
GRIM TOLL
* The Easter road toll is 12, the highest in 18 years.
* Since Tuesday there have been six more fatal crashes.
* Twenty-one people have died in seven days in crashes which police say have involved alcohol, speed and fatigue.
Easter 2010 holiday road toll (4pm Thursday - 6am Tuesday)
View Easter 2010 holiday road toll in a larger map
