36 hours after her son was killed in an Onekawa, Napier crash Keremia Tairua reached out to Hawke's Bay Today with a plea. Video Warren Buckland
A Hastings mother has made a heartfelt plea to young drivers in the hope that no one else will die in a crash like her son did this week.
Just 36 hours after 26-year-old Raymond Nicholas Tairua-Gray was killed in a crash in Napier when his car went left theroad and into a drain, his mother, Keremia Tairua, picked up the phone to call Hawke's Bay Today.
She said a lack of respect for roads, cars and young motorists "not valuing themselves" is proving fatal.
She said her son had been charged with driving offences before.
"Ray had been told by a judge "don't race on the streets anymore, race on the track"," Keremia said.
"The expense is too much and you all need to understand how valuable you are. This is a tragedy that affects too many people, because of one person not valuing themselves enough."
The tragedy occurred just after 9.45pm on Tuesday on Ford Rd, Onekawa.
She said it made her angry to hear young men talking about street racing culture when she and her whānau were now living the consequences.
"I'm at home at my house and I hear the racing, then I hear the screeching and the smack. It's horrible, horrifying," she said.
"It's not just you in that car, it's never just you in that car."
She said she was not alone in the loss she was feeling.
"I'm not the only one hurting because of a young man's ego, who wants the need for speed."
She said that whānau needed to get together to organise access to safe environments and safe vehicles for young people who wanted to race.
"I really hope that if there is anyone else who can help with this kaupapa, please do, please help keep our kids safe."
"We as a whānau need to get together to help save our kids. They are going to do what they are going to do, we need to allow them to do it in a safe environment."
Keremia said Ray was a passionate person who would give everything for others.
"He loved the ocean, he loved the earth, he loved the forest and the trees. He loved his friends, he called them all cousins. He would go without, he would put himself in a situation where he had nothing to help other people out."
She said he had bought the Holden Commodore and was in the process of swapping it for a van so he could travel the country, but the swap didn't go through so he was heading home.
Raymond Nicholas Tairua-Gray, 26, at a fashion show at the Eastern Institute of Technology in 2019. Photo / Kevin Bridle
"At the time that he passed away, he left home here and died about an hour later. He was on his way to swap that car for a van so that he could take his dog Molly and go travelling around the country to be with his whānau and his friends."
"He certainly wasn't one to be stuck in one place for long. He needs to spread the love and awhi. A warrior of peace."
Keremia said Ray grew up in Hawke's Bay, as well as Auckland and Christchurch, and went to William Colenso College.
"He spent a lot of time on the farm, he was born in the year of the pig, he loved being up at the pig farm just helping out. He loved the bush, he loved hunting, he was a very creative soul, a very loving soul."
"He wasn't scholastic and had problems at school, so after that he chose to do a Life course, which is run by the fire department, and that's where he really began to appreciate the work in saving people's lives, we're so proud of him for that."
Family members and friends had gathered together at Keremia's Hastings home on Friday to celebrate Raymond's life and mourn his passing. Photo / Warren Buckland
From there he did trade skills, carpentry, worked as a deck hand, did fishing and worked as an arborist.
"That's how he ended up losing his foot, because he fell out of a tree a couple of years ago," Keremia said.
"Ray was really looking forward to getting a new prosthetic with all the robotics."
In the days since Ray's death, she said she has felt rage, love, laughter and loss.
"There is certainly a huge void that cannot be filled. Not ever, you cannot replace a child. I feel privileged and honoured to have the time with him that he did spend here."
