A karakia takes place one week on from the Auckland shooting, what police suspect about Yanfei Bao’s disappearance and information of prominent Aucklanders leaked in gun owner data breach. Video / NZ Herald
A new Kiwi family has been left devastated after a South Island truck crash killed a father of a newborn baby.
The family had only recently moved to New Zealand last year from the US and had celebrated the birth of their second child three weeks before the tragic accident.
Vishwam Sankar, 36, was killed while driving to a golf club when a truck collided with his car at a six-way intersection in Ashburton.
The Sankar family moved to Canterbury in May last year after falling in love with the country’s friendly people and beautiful outdoors.
Formerly from the United States, the Sankar family only moved to Canterbury in May last year after falling in love with the country.
Sankar’s sister-in-law Annie Dingle spoke to the Herald to tell of his love for New Zealand.
“They thought it would be a great place to raise their children,” she said.
“They were looking long-term with schools and such. It was just a warm family environment and he was absolutely right, he made so many friends here within the year he lived here - it’s astonishing.”
Sankar’s family, who travelled to Timaru this last week from all over the world, held a memorial service for him yesterday where he was remembered for his outgoing personality.
He’d met Laura while studying at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, they’d since travelled to Chicago and Denver where he studied software engineering and she entered the medical field.
They moved to New Zealand after a “stressful” experience in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Covid hit hard and he’d wanted to move to New Zealand for quite a while, he’d done his research and talked to my sister about it,” Dingle said.
Vishwam Sankar's youngest child, Rory, was only three weeks old when he passed away.
Laura found a job at Timaru Hospital, while her husband became the vice president of a data analytics company.
Vishwam was on paternity leave and was spending time with his parents - visiting from overseas - at the time of the accident.
Their newborn, Rory, was only three weeks old at the time.
“She’s so broken, he was her world and life and love,” Dingle said.
The community is helping the family with a Whatsapp group of more than 70 residents created for the sole purpose of arranging care for the now solo mother.
Locals have dropped off cooked meals, walked the family’s dog, helped with overnight shifts for the baby and even carried out lawn work on the house.
“One person didn’t know what to do with themselves so they cleaned out her garage,” Dingle said.
Sankar was described as being "very good at his job", the people he led considered him a mentor and a friend.
“It’s a testament to what I’ve experienced at least, [Laura] doesn’t want to be alone and they’ve been incredible as someone’s always there for her. I’m totally overwhelmed by the love and support for her here.”
Members of Vishwam’s golf club attended the funeral, the lasting memory of him was how happy he was living in the South Island.
“[One golfer] said Vishwam teed off, then just stood there for a minute. They said ‘are you okay’, and he put his arms out and said ‘how can you not live here, isn’t this place wonderful?’,” Dinge said.
“And that’s how he felt about New Zealand, he loved this country.”
- Nathan Morton is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on South Island news. He joined the Herald in 2022.
