Selwyn Times: September 05, 2018

SELWYN TIMES Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Wednesday September 5 2018 7
horror car crash ordeal
Two “older men” camping at
the site had confronted them
because of their driving behaviour.
Alex said Sam was punched
and pushed into the lake. He
and Cole had run away when the
altercation happened and were
picked up later by the other three.
A gut feeling told Alex to put
his safety belt on. He was in
the back seat. He normally did
buckle up but on the way out to
the lake he hadn’t worn it. No
one else in the
car was wearing
seat belts.
As they
drove at speed
south along
Harts Rd,
they discussed
the mark on
Sam’s head,
Theresa Brown
caused Alex
said, by being
hit by one of
the two men at the lake, and his
wet clothes.
Cole then told the others in
the car they were being chased.
There were headlights behind
them. They feared it was because
of the altercation at the camping
ground. The driver sped up.
Police would later say there
was no evidence to support the
theory they were being chased.
“They’re chasing us, they’re
chasing us,” Alex recalls Cole
saying.
Then disaster. The car failed
to take a corner just before the
junction with Southbridge-
Sedgemere Rd, it hit a grass
mound and became airborne for
about 14m before hitting a row
of trees.
Alex, knocked out, doesn’t
recall the impact.
When he came to, his world
had changed.
The families of the teenagers
were also about to get the worst
possible news.
The police knocked on the
door of Alex’s home at 4.30am.
Recalls his mother Theresa
Brown: “Your world comes
crashing down . . . your heart just
goes into your boots,” she said.
DEVASTATING: From left – Sam Drost, Cole Christensen-Hull and Lily Moore, all 15, died in the
Boxing Day 2016 crash near Leeston.
RESPECT: Friends of the victims mourn at the crash site.
She was hoping police had got
it wrong. Alex was supposed to
have been staying at Cole’s house
for the night.
“We drove to the hospital and
it wasn’t wrong. It was right,” she
said.
The months following the
crash were terrible, said Alex.
Attending his best friend Cole’s
funeral was hardest.
“It was pretty tough when they
were showing the photos, they
showed a photo that I took of
him on Christmas, so the last
photo that was taken of him,
yeah it was pretty tough,” he said.
The three service sheets from
the funerals sit on a shelf in
Alex’s room. He looks at them
each day as he wakes up and
before he goes to sleep.
“They’re always there with me,
even though I didn’t know Sam
and Lily they’re part of my life now,
I feel like I know them,” he said.
Alex, who has been diagnosed
with post traumatic stress disorder,
says after the crash he stayed
at home a lot with close family
and friends.
To help process what he had
experienced, Alex tried counselling.
“I wasn’t the biggest fan of that
so I stopped but the majority of it
is mum really, kept to myself and
talked to mum,” he said.
Going to the gym also helped.
“I’ve always been like a sporty
kid but I started the gym mainly
to keep in better shape and keep
myself doing something, keep
myself occupied,” he said.
He says Christmas is a difficult
time.
“It’s supposed to be a happy
time, but it’s not, it’s still happy
but it’s not the best feeling anymore,”
Alex said.
Now he’s 16, Alex has got his
learner licence.
Learning to drive has been a
“nerve-wracking” process for
him and something he’s taking
his time doing.
Looking back, Alex says he realises
what a mistake they made
by driving that night.
“I realise I made the right
choice [wearing a seat belt] but
sometimes you feel a little bit
guilty that I was one of the two
out of the five who survived but
then just grateful to be honest,”
he said.
Looking forward to the future,
Alex is wanting to finish high
school, get a job and maybe study
at university.
For now though, Alex is advising
other teenagers to be careful
when it comes to driving.
“Be safe, always make sure the
person driving has their full licence
or if they’re on their learners,
there’s someone with their
full licence in the car,” he said.
•Two-hundred-and-fifty-two
people have died on New
Zealand roads so far this
year, including five in Selwyn.
Local
News
Now
Call to
secure
cattle
Fire rages, homes at risk
•From page 1
The incident was “pretty terrifying.”
She was driving home from
the Crusaders Super Rugby final
against the Lions on August 4
when her she collided with the
cow about 11pm.
Mrs Maitland was travelling
at 30km/h through road works
on the 100km/h road when the
cow “came straight out in front”
of her.
“I didn’t see it at all and so, I
didn’t even brake and it basically
kind of sat on my bonnet
and rolled back onto my windscreen,”
Mrs Maitland said.
The vehicle sustained significant
damage to the bonnet and
roof and needed to be replaced.
Mrs Maitland and the cow were
uninjured.
Her collision is just one of
four accidents involving cattle
over the past two months in
Selwyn.
A 27-year-old suffered serious
injuries when she collided with
a cow in Burnham on July 19.
On July 12, former mayor Bill
Woods and his two passengers
were lucky to escape serious
injury after his Mercedes-Benz,
travelling at about 100km/h,
collided with a cow.
In July, Senior Sergeant Pete
Stills told Selwyn Times road
accidents with cows were a
“good reason” for motorists to
keep their speed down.
“Hit a horse or a cow at speed
and you’re in trouble because
all you do is take their legs out
and they come up the bonnet
through your windscreen often,”
he said.
District council senior animal
control officer Steve Clarke is
advising people driving on rural
roads to make sure they are
aware of potential hazards.
“If you do see farm animals
on the road please report it
through our 24 hour line – 347
2800,” he said.
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