It’s been six weeks since a car ploughed through the glass doors of Rotorua’s Urbano Bistro restaurant, seriously injuring Rotorua woman Sian Hapgood. The crash has been bittersweet for the restaurant’s owners, Mark and Jane Solon. Kelly Makiha reports.
Mark and Jane Solon’s precious business, not long bought from their mentors, was in ruins.
Glass was everywhere, a foundation wall was smashed, parts of the building were buckled and flooring and furniture was destroyed. The damage was so immense, it was not known if it was financially worth opening again.
A car driven by someone police say had a medical event, had lost control on Fenton St in Rotorua, crossed a median island, hit another car and a pole and smashed through Urbano Bistro.
It was about 6pm on Friday, March 15. Sian Habgood was enjoying a dinner out with her husband, Jethro, when she looked up and saw the car hurtling towards her.
She stood and ran but the car collected her from behind and threw her 7m across the room and into a wall.
It was amazing she survived. But the Rotorua mother suffered serious injuries all over her body, she’s still unable to walk properly and her recovery will be long.
The Solons, meanwhile, had only taken over the award-winning restaurant less than six months earlier, buying it from long-time Rotorua hospitality icons Richard and Julie Sewell.
Mark Solon told the Rotorua Daily Post this week he had been the restaurant’s chef since January 2013 under Richard Sewell’s guidance and still considered himself Sewell’s “apprentice”. With the Sewells remaining owners of the building, they still had a stake in the business.
Solon said it was not just the financial impact, there was also the emotional consideration of the staff who were working the night of the crash and witnessed the horror of Hapgood’s pain.
Urbano’s fate rested with insurance assessors who concluded the building could be fixed and the restaurant reopened.
Mark Solon said the builders and painters set to work and it was now renovated, upgraded and modernised.
“It is so sad what happened but I guess happy in a way as it’s better now the restaurant has a new face.”
He said his 11 staff members had had a fully paid five-week break - although some had pitched in and helped with the interior painting - and were refreshed and ready to work again.
Urbano reopened on Monday and he said they were “eager” to welcome customers back.
Life for Habgood has changed dramatically since the crash.
She had gone from being a busy working mother of three children under 11 - including a high-needs autistic son aged 6 - to still being unable to walk properly and do a lot of things.
The crash impacted her entire body. She had a broken pelvis, lacerated spleen, broken knee, broken finger and torn ankle ligaments.
Her legs and back were also covered in deep bruises, she had a nasty head gash, was peppered in cuts and broken glass was still being plucked from her body in the days following.
Her finger was the most serious of the breaks and would require surgery and ongoing rehabilitation to get it working again. Her internal injuries were still incredibly painful and she cannot bend her knee.
Jethro had already taken leave from his job as manager of Taupō's Plumbing World for a few weeks but he would go back to work next week.
“It’s a slow process ... I can’t really walk yet. Well, I can for a wee bit without crutches but then I get tired. I think it’s going to take a while to get there.”
She said a district nurse visited each week to change her dressings and she had several appointments with doctors, physiotherapists, specialists and for scans.
Despite the discomfort, Sian tried to remain positive.
“It’s pretty frustrating … but I will get there. It’s good I’m getting better but it’s still difficult to do anything and I get tired just from folding the laundry.”
Sian said she was trying to arrange ACC home help for when Jethro was back at work but was grateful for the help she was getting from her parents.
Emotionally, she was taking her recovery in stages but one day she hoped to go back to Urbano Bistro and enjoy a meal.
“We did a drive-by the other day and saw they were renovating and replacing the window. I managed to get through that part of just driving past. I’m just not quite sure when I could go back inside.”
A Givealittle page for Sian and her family has been set up to help with the ongoing costs of her not being able to work.
Police told the Rotorua Daily Post this week the crash was medical-related. No one has been charged.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.