Jason Alexander, pictured with his partner Lisa Campbell, recently lost his two daughters in a crash and now is on a safety mission. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Jason Alexander, pictured with his partner Lisa Campbell, recently lost his two daughters in a crash and now is on a safety mission. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Reality has hit Jason Alexander.
He can't stop crying. He has barely slept. He can't "unsee" the images of his dead daughters.
On November 27 Alexander's eldest daughter, Tayla died instantly in a fiery car crash. Her sister, Sunmara suffered extensive burns and died a month later on her 16thbirthday at Middlemore hospital.
Alexander is now on a mission to make Christchurch's Summit Rd safer.
"I don't want my girls to be forgotten and to have died for nothing. I don't want any more lives to be lost. I don't want any other parents to have to go through what I am going through," he said.
The Ashburton teenagers were in a car driven by a 19-year-old man when it crashed the Port Hills about 11pm.
Last month, family friend Kelli Foster created a petition behalf of Alexander which received 5800 signatures, directed at the Christchurch City Council, the NZ Transport Agency and Parliament.
Alexander wants the road to be controlled at night during the weekends by a closed barrier system to stop boy racers.
"The road leads to a lookout point, it's full of burn marks all the way up. It's a race track for boy racers, there are no barriers. You get to the top of the cliff and there's a drop-it is so dangerous," he said.
Jason Alexander with his late daughters Tayla, left, and Sunmara. Photo / Supplied
Today, Neil Brown, the Ashburton mayor drove Alexander to meet with Christchurch mayor Liane Dalziel.
"The meeting went well and things are progressing which I am happy about," said Alexander.
He still hasn't met the driver of the car but doesn't want him to be punished or trolled on social media.
"He said he was going to see Sunmara when we brought her home but he was a 'no show'. I don't hate him, he made a stupid mistake. He must be scared and confused - his parents must be affected too," Alexander said.
Police confirmed to the Weekend Herald no charges have been laid.
Alexander said: "I read a text from Tayla the night of the crash as we took Sunmara off life support. It said 'Oh my god, I am going to die tonight. I have never been driven in a car so fast before.'
"The boy was showing off of course so I can imagine Tayla would have asked them to slow down, she was the mother hen and she would've tried to protect her younger sister in the back seat."
Alexander visits his girls at the cemetery every day. He has no energy to work and is struggling financially.
The donations from a Givealittle page have barely covered his daughters' funeral costs. Alexander is saving for a headstone and wants to be buried with the girls.
"I feel so robbed. It is gutting I won't have any grandkids - my bloodline has been wiped out. I just want us to be together again."
