The Star: August 17, 2023

The Star Thursday August 17 2023
6
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Young mum on life support after
• By Nathan Morton
‘We’re not angry at (the driver) or the family, I’ve got a
daughter who’s made mistakes, but these kids think
they’re invincible and they’re not’ – Charlene Harkness
WHEN GYPSY-ROSE Walker
headed out for the night, her
parents were comfortable she
was with a group of friends
they liked and they could follow
her whereabouts on a family
tracking app.
But at 2am, two of those
friends were banging on Charlene
and Grant Harkness’ door
to tell them their daughter had
been in a car crash and was
being rushed to Christchurch
Hospital.
Almost two weeks later, the
16-year-old is on life support
and one of her teenage friends
is dead. Her parents have been
left caring for her 10-month-old
daughter.
When the couple went back
to look at the app, Life360, they
claim it showed the car she was
in travelling incredibly fast
around a corner.
Family tracking apps are
becoming increasingly popular
for parents monitoring their
children.
If the user allows, Life360 –
reportedly used by more than 33
million parents in 140 countries
– notifies parents if their children
have driven above the speed
limit, or been in a car crash.
Gypsy-Rose is in the intensive
care unit suffering critical injuries.
She has brain swelling on
both sides of her head.
“Brain injuries can go north or
south very quickly,” said Charlene
Harkness.
“The nurses were saying
it’s like the big man upstairs
wrapped her in bubble wrap
from the neck down, there’s not
a toenail out of place. But we’re
in limbo now, trying to find out
what happened.”
On July 30, Gypsy-Rose, who
had been studying at a parents’
college before the crash, told
her mother she was headed out
with friends. A group of them
gathered to drive around town in
the early hours.
Gypsy-Rose was the front-seat
passenger in a car driven by a
17-year-old friend.
CRITICAL: Gypsy-Rose Walker, 16, is on life support in
Christchurch Hospital after a car crash that killed her
teenage friend. Gypsy-Rose’s parents are caring for her
10-month-old daughter.
PHOTOS: NZ HERALD
Harkness was told by the
youths who alerted her the car
her daughter was in had travelled
with another car to pick a person
up from their house.
When those in the second car
realised Gypsy-Rose’s vehicle
hadn’t made it, they circled back
to find the car on the side of
Greywacke Rd in Harewood,
having hit a power pole.
In the car with Gypsy-Rose
were the driver, who was killed,
and a woman in the back seat
who was hospitalised with critical
injuries. A teenage boy who
was next to her walked away
relatively unscathed.
“She was an unidentified
female at the time. They knew
they had a dead girl and one really
broken, another with a brain
injury, but they didn’t know who
they were,” said Harkness.
“When Grant arrived, she was
already in theatre and had brain
surgery for hours.”
Harkness said her daughter
had been spending time with a
group of teens who would often
go out for drives late at night as a
way of entertaining themselves.
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