The agony and heartbreak when two worlds collide

It was a day where lives collided and families were torn apart. The day 24-year-old Pehi Grant Rangi smashed his Holden Commodore at high speed into the back of a Ford Laser driven by soccer manager Rowan Pringle, leaving three families devastated. Earlier in the day, there had been reports that Rangi had been trav-elling at speeds of up 180km/h.

In the middle of the twisted metal lay the body of 8-year-old Liam Cooper, a boy who, up until last weekend, had his whole life ahead of him. Liam's dad Mark Cooper - a bakery manager and soccer coach - lies in a coma in Waikato Hospital. He still has no idea his eldest son is dead.

Mr Pringle has had countless operations to fix his broken body. He has little feeling in his legs.

The driver of the out-of-control Commodore is also at Waikato Hospital. Rangi - who has been charged with manslaughter - has been remanded to the hospital's mental health unit. His mental state at the time of last weekend's crash in Tokoroa has been questioned.

On the Friday police have confirmed they had been searching for Rangi who was later found in Taupo the following morning. Police had spoken to his parents, Prudence and Roger Rangi, as well as a mental health case worker about his mental state, but when they arrived at his home to speak to him discovered he had gone.

Rangi was an outpatient with the Lakes Mental Health Service, and his case worker, who met him at his parents' Atiamuri home on the Friday, was apparently concerned about his mental wellbeing and had suggested he see a psychiatrist. But Rangi fled the meeting and his parents filed a missing-person report with Taupo police.

Rangi and Liam lived worlds apart. One, a soccer-mad kid from Tokoroa, the other a seemingly troubled farm worker from Taupo.

The registered address of Rangi's car is the home of a young bachelor. Rangi, it appears, lived alone in a weatherboard house on his parents' dairy farm.

Through the curtainless lounge window, empty Jim Beam bottles line the mantle and performance car posters decorate the walls.

In the bedroom, a Holden racing duvet is crumpled on a mattress on the floor, with an overflowing ashtray and roll-your-own tobacco nearby.

Rangi's Hamilton-based lawyer, Matthew Bates, said his client was "withdrawn" and would be assessed by two doctors this week. "He had been on medication in the past and part of what they will assess will be if he was on medication and if he needed to be on it," Mr Bates said. "One of the first things we have to decide is what his mental state is like."

The farm worker - who would milk and do odd jobs on the Tuaropaki Trust farm - has been told of the crash. He has been told Liam is dead. "Pehi is spending most of the time listening and taking in what is happening to him," Mr Bates said.

"I don't know how much of the information he is processing."

Meanwhile, Liam's family have faced the hardest week of their lives. No one - apart from young boarder Simon Neumann and countless visitors offering help - has been at the modest two-storey house this week. Simon, 16, was taken in by Coopers when he needed somewhere to stay. "I work with Mark at the bakery and I needed somewhere to stay for a while and they just took me in.

"Mark is just amazing. He has taught me a lot about saving money, life skills, everything like that."

Liam's grandmother Pat Ellis said Liam was "just the most adorable and loving child."

"Really sensitive. He was always helping his mum and wasn't afraid to say 'I love you Nana'. He absolutely idolised his dad and lived for soccer," she said.

Mrs Ellis said Liam spent the school holidays in Waihi, where he made his mother a Mother's Day card. "Although he wasn't into arts and crafts, he sat there for hours and made her this beautiful card. It was almost like he knew it was the last card he was going to make her and I know she will treasure it forever."

For the kids at Tokoroa North School, it's also been a tough week. Liam's classmates have been offered counselling and have planted a Kauri tree on the school grounds to remember their friend.

Meanwhile, Liam's mum, Simone, has spent most of her time at her husband's bedside. When she gets back to Tokoroa, she has to make plans for her son's funeral.

Mr Cooper had become something of a local hero since he moved to the small town from Ngaruawahia 18-months ago. At the New World bakery he manages, he has six apprentices under him. His boss Ivan Gray described him as irreplaceable. "He has done great things for the bakery trade - he is a skilled and passionate baker."

The bakery team have left the last message Mark wrote on the staff whiteboard. It tells them to keep up the good work. They hope he will be back soon to write another.

At the local soccer club the team are at a loss. Club captain Andrew Treanor led a low-key practice on Thursday night. "No one is expected to play this weekend and no one will think less of you if you don't," he told the team. "There is more to life than soccer and winning and we all know that after what has happened."

- HERALD ON SUNDAY