The worst nightmare and shock affected the close-knit families when a policeman came to the door, or a phone rang early in the morning.
Yesterday morning we read the newspapers in the Waikato Times and the NZ Herald. In the article, the family members detailed were a mother and a child who died and left a young father alive and injured. This detail brought back my memory of the 1st of February in Eureka. The worst serious accident happened on State Highway 1, south of Picton, South Island, resulting from a van (mover van) and a truck with two container trailers. Seven out of nine family members died instantly, leaving two other families injured, and the truck driver was barely shaken and had a mild injury.
We learnt that the mover van had crossed the centre line while the truck driver tried to avoid it but ended up tipping over to the rail line 50 metres away. We watched the new video and can tell the brake line/tyre marks along both sides of the roads. We leave the clues to the investigation team to understand what happened the whole thing. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/129019470/seven-people-from-same-family-killed-in-crash-on-way-home-from-funeral-named
I tried to focus on other areas like gardening, genealogy research and jigsaw puzzles. My partner knew what to feel like having been injured and living with the accident in the past. Because he had been involved in vehicles and other accidents in the past, he is a truck driver. At the same time, I am a deaf-specialised community worker, deaf advocator and deaf historian. I have experience involved with assistance in the accident near our property back on the 1st of February.
The family came from consistent church-goers. The father was a primary teacher who received extensive extra training for the high-needs children; the school dealt with behaviours that “fall into the broad categories of profound, severe and moderate disability”.
Consider there is more work to be done on the safety of driving on the road and the acute awareness of the road codes and speed. It is called Road to Zero. The campaign starts on the 13th of February 2022, and it is not okay for people to die or to be seriously injured in a crash.
Your loss saddens our hearts, and our thoughts and prayers are with you. May our Lord bless and comfort you and your family during this time of grief. May the memories of this family and the love of family surround you and give you strength in the days ahead. Please accept our sincere condolences.
Life in Eureka 