Dad's second tragedy as young son loses battle

Jacob Henderson was critically injured in a car crash that killed his mother. Photo / Supplied

When Ian Henderson buries his young son Jacob tomorrow it will be the second child he has farewelled because of a car accident.

Henderson's 16-year-old son, Brett, was also killed in a smash.

"I had another son who passed away many years ago, that was a road accident too," the Cambridge father of five told the Herald on Sunday.

On January 24, Jacob Eric Henderson, 9, and his mother Anna Marree Pidduck, 45, were on their way to a school holiday programme when they collided with a bitumen truck on the outskirts of Cambridge.

Pidduck died at the scene and Jacob was transferred to Starship Hospital where he was placed in an induced coma because of brain swelling.

Last Monday, Henderson made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his son's life support.

"I was with him the whole time in hospital but he was in a coma," Henderson said. "He was with family when he died."

Jacob's uncle Mike Pidduck said he was a fantastic boy who always had a smile on his face.

"He was your average Kiwi kid who loved rugby and being outdoors," he said.

Jacob's classmates at Leamington School recorded two songs to be played at his funeral. Principal Mike Malcolm said Jacob's classmates had also made wreaths and written poems for Jacob.

Starship Hospital staff made prints of Jacob's hands before they turned off life support.

"The way they managed his death on Monday was nice - it was a nice way of saying good-bye," said Mike Pidduck.

"The staff were in tears and they made some handprints for the family before letting Jake go."

Waikato district road policing manager, Inspector Leo Tooman, said the cause of the crash was being investigated.