Editorial: Losing mum adds weight to tragedies

A 25-year old mother was killed in a crash yesterday.

It has been a tragic past few days in Hawke's Bay.

Two mothers have now died, both in saddening circumstances - both with youngsters by their sides.

In a situation similar to last year's double drowning near Iwitea, a woman died on Sunday attempting to rescue her son who got into trouble in surf at Mahia. He is believed to be aged about 10 and managed to make it back to shore.

Yesterday this news was compounded by the death of a 25-year-old woman in a car crash on State Highway 50 with two young children in the vehicle. Unfortunately in this instance, both children were taken to hospital.

The involvement of a child in such accidents is always saddening, whether or not a life is lost. But when their mother is taken away from them, it is heartbreaking.

I interviewed the pilot involved in recovering the body of one of those who drowned at Iwitea last year in the hours following the recovery operation.

The circumstances of that day's events were a harrowing tale - as the writer, I needed only to transcribe.

During our conversation I was amazed by the dignified manner in which the pilot conducted the interview, who admitted it was a "difficult one to put into words" and described to me how his team went about pulling the child's body from the ocean.

How these men and women spend day after day carrying out this work in the face of such tragedy is admirable.