In December 2024, Jeremy Capper survived a head-on collision near Taihape but suffered the loss of three friends and his own arm and leg. Video / Mike Scott
Jeremy Capper, who lost an arm, a leg, and three friends in a triple-fatal motorbikecrash, says he feels “ratshit” he survived.
Garth Temokina Thompson was charged with causing the crash under the influence of methamphetamine.
Jeremy Capper scattered the ashes of his lost limbs at the crash site in Utiku, near Taihape on March 22in front of friends and fellow bikers, including members of the Canterbury Kinsmen Social Motorcycle Club.
Capper, the sole survivor of the crash, was supported by his wife Tania.
“I spoke, then spread the ashes of my limbs around the tree,” he told the Herald.
“I lost three of my mates that day and a part of me also died.
The president of the Sulphur City Motorcycle Club said he was overwhelmed with emotion to have the opportunity to meet the bereaved families of his three lost friends for the first time.
Jeremy Capper with his wife Tania, sprinkling the ashes of his lost limbs at a memorial service for three friends who died in a head-on-collision. Capper was the sole survivor.
Capper, 48, is upset he missed his mates’ funerals. At the time he was fighting for his life, critically injured and in an induced coma that lasted six weeks.
“As a president I should have been at their funerals, the families were gracious and understood. I feel ratshit I survived but none of it was our fault.”
Capper and three of his mates, Lesley Brooks, 46, Luke Shaw and Jacob “Pudding” Coady, both 24, had attended a bike rally in Mangaweka for the Manawatū chapter of the Road Pirates on December 6 last year.
Luke Shaw and Jacob Coady, both 24, died in a head-on collision on December 7 2024. The driver of the ute that killed them was allegedly high on meth.
The following day they were heading along State Highway 1 at Utiku, near Taihape, when the crash happened around 8am.
Capper was riding with three motorcyclists close behind him when he saw a black Toyota Hilux ute coming at him.
“It happened so quickly ... I collected the left side of his vehicle, and he collected mine. I thought, ‘what the f*** are you doing?‘” Capper said.
He remembers bouncing off the ute, skidding 100 metres and then briefly blacking out. “I remember everything: the noise, the sparks, sliding on gravel and seeing the car on its side,” he said.
“There was debris everywhere. I asked a witness, ‘Am I bleeding? Am I missing anything?’ He said, ‘Your foot.’ It was 100 metres away. I thought, that’s a bummer.
“I slid on my belly and crushed my arm, my hand was mangled, and I smashed my elbow. My last words were ‘please don’t let me bleed out’.”
Lesley and Michael Brooks with Jeremy Capper. Lesley died in a triple fatality at Utiku near Taihape on December 7 2024. Capper lost his arm and leg.
Garth Temokina Thompson, 51, was charged with being under the influence of methamphetamine and causing a fatal crash killing three people and seriously injuring another.
He was also charged with driving under the influence of a drug “to such an extent as to be incapable” of operating a motor vehicle.
After the memorial service, Capper’s wife drove him home to Galatea, in Whakatāne. Capper says he felt anxious – particularly when they were overtaken by a car speeding on a double yellow line just five minutes from the crash site.
Jeremy Capper lost an arm and a leg in a motorcycle accident that Garth Thompson (inset) has been charged with causing.
Composite photo / Mike Scott
He later saw the same driver charging his car.
“I was f***ing wild ... I said ‘mate, you passed us on a double line’. When he said ‘I didn’t know’ I wanted to grab him by the neck and bang his head, but I kept my cool.
“I said, I am wild and upset at you. I lost my arm and leg and three mates five minutes from where you passed us. My wife needs to care for me now.”
Capper is grateful to be alive and doesn’t want to be consumed by anger.
He gets flashbacks of the crash, losing his foot and he is haunted by the knowledge his friend flew through the driver’s windscreen.
He is relieved to be home and is ready to “get back on the horse” – he’s a fitter and welder, on the hunt for motorcycle parts for a bespoke motorcycle trike he plans to build.
Jeremy Capper with his wife Tania. Jeremy was he sole survivor in a triple fatality. He wants to mount a public campaign against drug driving. Photo / Mike Scott
He also wants to mount a campaign against drug driving.
“The driver is a piece of s**t but I’m determined not to let him burn me up. The accident was senseless and avoidable. I lost my limbs, but I am alive and that’s cool.”
Garth Thompson will reappear in the Palmerston North District Court on April 8.
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland-based investigative journalist who won Best Documentary at the Voyager Media Awards in 2022. She worked for the Herald on Sunday from 2007-2011 and rejoined the Herald in 2016 after working as an award-winning current affairs producer at TVNZ’s 60 Minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
