Taranaki crash: Dad's phone call of comfort to his dying young daughter
Thursday, 28 June 2018
The father of the eight-year-old girl who died in hospital after a crash in Taranaki spoke words of comfort to his daughter before she passed away.
A family friend said Nivek Madams' father, who couldn't be at his daughter's bedside, had called to say his goodbyes.
'She had her dad in one ear. He couldn't be there. He was on the phone in her left ear,' her godmother, Joy Zillah Clark said.
'The hospital set up a speaker phone and the pastor prayed as she passed.'
**READ MORE:
* 'Beautiful' family in Taranaki crash
* Multiple killed in crash near Waverley**
Nivek became the seventh casualty of the head-on crash in Waverley on Wednesday, when she died in hospital early Thursday morning.
Her baby sister Shae, understood to be a newborn, and her stepfather died at the scene of the crash. Four elderly people, who were in the second car, also died at the scene.
Nivek's mother, Ani Nohinohi, is still in intensive care in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital. On Thursday night, a police spokeswoman said there had been no change to her condition after she had been flown to Wellington with critical injuires. 'My understanding is that there is no change to her condition but that she is stable.'
The family had lived in Stratford.
It's understood Nivek's father is in prison and was unable to be by her bedside in person.
On Wednesday, two cars collided on State Highway 3, north of Waverley, killing four elderly people in one car instantly, as well as a man and a newborn baby girl in the other vehicle.
Nivek died in Waikato Hospital early Thursday morning, police said.
Before she passed away, about 20 friends and family had been able to say their goodbyes over the phone as the little girl lay in the hospital bed.
Nivek, who had only celebrated her eighth birthday on Tuesday, was recently a flower girl at her aunt Mereana Wilson's wedding.
Wilson said the child had stayed with her for about two weeks around the time of the wedding.
'She just had that glow in her. She was beautiful,' she said.
'She's happy-go-lucky, she's out there, she's outspoken, she's funny, she's just lovely.'
The crash has been called an 'absolute tragedy' by Inspector Dave White, central district road policing manager.
'Six people have lost their lives and others are in hospital. That this happened on a day like today is just unbelievable and just devastating for those involved.
'Dealing with a crash like this today is just devastating, there's no other words for it really.'
The crash happened about 300 metres north of the intersection of SH3 and Ihupuku Rd, just outside of Waverley.
Police said it was a head-on collision on a corner governed by an 85kmh speed indication sign.
Emergency services from the town, as well as Pātea and Whanganui, were called to the crash just after 11am.
Police would not comment on the cause of the crash but warnings had been issued earlier in the day about icy roads in the area following four other crashes in two hours.
Chief fire officer for the Pātea fire brigade, Grant Hurley, said it was one of the worst crashes he'd been to.
'It was a bit of a mess, a bit of chaos.There were two cars involved, head on; they were both in the right hand lane.