Pregnant mother loses baby; partner loses leg after serious motorcycle crash with truck

Kendra and Corey were injured after a serious crash on Tuesday. Photo / Givealittle

A pregnant mother has lost her baby and her partner has lost his leg after a serious motorcycle crash with a truck near Levin earlier this week.

Kendra Smith and Corey Thompson were headed to help Thompson's twin brother who had run out of fuel when they were struck.

"They were on the road, going to help Corey's brother because he was stranded in the middle of nowhere," Smith's aunty Nifo Ili said.

"They were going to go get petrol and help him. His twin brother asked for help and they went out and that's what happened."

Smith and Thompson were separately flown to Wellington Hospital on Tuesday in serious conditions after the crash on State Highway 1 near the Ōhau River Bridge.

Smith was five months pregnant at the time with their first child but the baby did not survive.

Kendra and Corey were injured after a serious crash on Tuesday. Photo / Givealittle

"The family are pretty devastated at the moment. It's been hard," Ili said.

"Kendra was wailing last night when she found out she lost the baby. She's a lot better today than she was yesterday.

"They're trying to cope with all this that's happened."

A Givealittle has been set up to support the good-hearted Smith and Thompson, who have been involved with outreach on the Kapiti Coast helping Māori and Pasifika youth.

As a young single mother, Smith took up the reins of the president of the Featherston Rugby Club before she met and fell in love with Thompson.

Smith has a young son from a previous relationship and Thompson has three girls, also from a previous relationship.

Family friend Ritchie Wards says the pair are "committed and amazing parents".

Ili says the club was struggling before Smith arrived and poured her heart out into it, bringing it back from the brink.

The family have been overwhelmed by the support of the community, Ili says.

"The community are really good people, we come together and work hard to put things together. [They] have been very good," she said.

Smith's mother, Ili's sister, is driving to Wellington from Paraparaumu each day to be with her daughter and Thompson.

Some of the money from the Givealittle will go towards travel expenses, as well as medical costs, family-related costs, and potential modifications to living arrangements.

The pair have both undergone major surgeries, with Thompson losing a leg but surgeons have managed to save a badly damaged arm.

Smith has had rods inserted into bone fractures in one of her legs, with doctors hoping it can be saved.

They have been told to expect recovery times of anywhere between 12 to 18 months long by surgeons, Wards says.

Thompson is a painter/plasterer and Smith works in retail but recently started her own cleaning business to support their growing family.

Ili says neither of them will be working in a long time and says all donations, no matter the size, are appreciated by the family.

"Anything that you can spare, it doesn't matter how much, it's what you put in, you know what I mean," she said.

The crash took place on SH1 around 12.45pm on Tuesday, forcing the highway to be closed for some time as investigators attended the scene.