This time the family were not so lucky. In the 20 hours following the crash Mr Harris, an electrical apprentice with McKay Electrical, endured more than eight hours of surgery, with many more expected.
Ms Payen was in the backyard at the time of the collision and was first on the scene, administering first aid to her son. She described the incident as "pretty much the worst" thing a mother could imagine and "totally and utterly random".
"I don't think I was thinking much at the time except, 'Oh my God'," she said. "His car has picked him up and dragged him along the road ... The other car kept going possibly running him over and stopping about 30 metres down the road."
When she spoke to the Advocate yesterday Ms Payen was waiting to hear whether her son would have to be transferred to Auckland for further surgery.
"They've pinned his left humerus. His right femur has been nailed up into his pelvis, so there's a big long metal rod through that. They've cleaned and packed some of the wounds. He's got about nine broken ribs and numerous scratches to vertebra."
Despite the seriousness of Mr Harris' injuries, Ms Payen said she and her family were counting their blessings. Her son had no brain damage, no neck injury or damage to his spinal cord. "Because he's young and healthy, the prognosis is good but it's going to be a long healing process and it will take a long time for all the wounds and breaks to heal ... and we are unsure how the next 24-48 hours will play out."
She was grateful for the "fantastic care and wonderful nursing" her son had received at Whangarei Hospital.
"There's no point in falling to bits, that's not going to help him at all," she said.
Whangarei police Sergeant Paul Nicholas said charges - if any - were yet to be laid against a 52-year-old man who had been driving the other vehicle. The Serious Crash Unit was still carrying out calculations from its scene examination, he said.
The crash was one of three in Northland that kept emergency services busy on Saturday.
Two people had to be airlifted to hospital after a motorcycle crash at Titoki near the intersection of Mangakahia and Fraser Rds.
Northland Emergency Services Trust helicopter pilot Dean Volkerling said a male patient with serious head injuries was taken to Whangarei Hospital then on to Auckland.
A woman was treated for moderate injuries at Whangarei.
At 2pm a 28-year-old man escaped injury when he lost control of his car and rolled into a ditch beside Matauri Bay Rd, near State Highway 10.
