"My passenger suffered a sliced liver but is fine, thank goodness"
Emergency services in Wellington were called to the status 1 accident and Wayne said those who attended didn't expect Taran to live.
Police didn't think he would make it to hospital.
Taran had 18 breaks and fractures to bones, including his shoulder, ribs, sternum, neck, back and collar bones as well as head injuries.
"I was pretty much toast and, after a month in Wellington Hospital, I was transferred to Burwood in Christchurch," Taran said.
"You know, I can't remember what drove me to get in and drive that day."
The day after the accident Taran was due to start a job in the building industry.
"I was so wasted that day. I don't know what triggered my drinking binge and it does my head in not knowing," he said.
"I was so mixed up on drugs and drink."
Now Taran is off the drugs and rarely uses alcohol.
"My dad has definitely been through it.
"You know, if it wasn't for dad and Kade I would have fallen into a massive depression.
"In my situation, it would have been so easy to get depressed and I'm lucky dad and Kade came with me to Burwood."
To add to the pain, while Taran was in Wellington Hospital his girlfriend broke up with him.
"I'm on the right track now and I've learnt that no matter how bad things are you can pick yourself up if there's family around," he said.
"I'm close to my mum too and she's been there for me as well."
Before his accident, Taran was artistic and he's working to retrain his right hand.
"My speech is slurred too and that's affected my confidence," he said.
"I'm going to do an Earthlink hands-on course fixing lawn mowers, but the doctors reckon it will be two years before I can get into full-time work."
For Wayne, the trauma of what has happened with his sons has been hard to take.
"There were times when I felt like giving up, but I'm thankful for all the support I received after Kade's story appeared in the Dannevirke News/Hawke's Bay Today.
"Some kind person even dropped in a spectacular handmade blanket for me at Norsewear Clothing and I take it everywhere with me.
"I don't know who did this, but it's a special piece.
"We've good friends here and heaps of support and that's kept me going.
"Just finding the small blessings for us - they're huge. We're just looking for peace, love and happiness now."
Kade, now 21, is also on the road to recovery and once the trio find somewhere to live in Norsewood he'll be looking at training and work opportunities.
Kade's journey, fighting mental illness
In 2015 more than 44,500 people aged 19 and under sought help from the mental-health system. Kade Steffensen was one of them.
* At 18 he began having mental-health problems. He assaulted his mother, was arrested by the police and instead of being put under the mental-health team was processed through the courts and put into a cell.
* Eventually his father went to Lower Hutt Hospital's mental-health unit to get Kade admitted.
*There for six weeks, he was first diagnosed with schizophrenia, then depression with psychosis.
* Not long after his release, he was readmitted to TWA (Te Whare Ahuru, the acute inpatient unit of Hutt Valley DHB).
* After release again and before his father could get to him from his home in Coromandel, Kade was in court again.
* Remanded by the court and returned to his flat, Kade woke to find someone had robbed him while he slept, taking money, his passport and cash card. He decided to hitchhike to meet his dad in Coromandel.
* After getting a ride to Waiouru, he was dropped off at 12.20am in November 2015, but while walking along the Desert Rd was clipped by a B-train truck going 100km/h.
* He was lucky to live. State Highway 1 was closed while a rescue helicopter was brought in to transfer him to Palmerston North Hospital.
* Kade was then transferred to Lower Hutt Hospital. He had a shattered eye socket, a hole punched in his forehead, resulting in four plates in his head, his nose ripped off and his elbow and ankle shattered.
* Kade was discharged from hospital in a wheelchair on December 23, 2015.
* In the past two years he has had nine operations to repair his face.
* He has completed a living-without-violence programme.