Cancer claims father of forecourt girl

The father of a four-year-old girl killed by an unlicensed, speeding driver at a petrol station has died of cancer two years, almost to the day, after his daughter.

Cameron Graham, 25, was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2002, and had just finished his first course of chemotherapy when his daughter Georgia was killed.

The cancer returned two years ago, but a family member said Mr Graham had battled to survive.

"He endured so much, and yet he endured it all so bravely and courageously," said the family member.

Mr Graham's wife is due to give birth this week, a boy who will be named Thomas.

After the 2003 Waikato fatality, the 19-year-old driver of the car that killed Georgia and seriously injured Mr Graham paid $40,000 and had his prison sentence halved as a consequence.

Georgia's mother Chantel McCarten turned down the money and said it should be given to her daughter's kindergarten. The kindergarten also refused, but the money was accepted by Mr Graham's father Rex to help his seriously injured son.

Ding Yan Zhao's two-year prison sentence for dangerous driving causing death was halved on appeal, sparking a public outrage against what Ms McCarten described as "blood money".

- NZPA