Death crash teenager 'drove like a nana'

The sisters of the 17-year-old driver who killed himself and three of his friends in a horrific smash in Hastings last week have hit out at reports that he was a boy racer.

Che Orbell-Pere's three older sisters say their brother was a "nana driver", and admit they are struggling to come to terms with the fact the car he was driving was travelling so fast it hit a totara tree at 120km/h after more than 30m of braking.

"It has been really bizarre for us to accept," Melissa Greville told the Herald on Sunday. "But Mum has accepted the fact he was driving because she knew in her heart."

The sisters - Melissa, Corrine Orbell, and Stevie-Mel Orbell-Pere - have criticised media reports that a van following the hearse at Che's funeral, last week, had "revved up", causing offence to mourners. The family, who were riding in the van, say they revved the rotary engine to stop it stalling.

Che and his best friend Dylan Brittin were buried side-by-side last week at Mangaroa Cemetery in Hastings following their deaths in the July 29 crash that also killed friends Michael Jeffries and Alex Scales.

To their left lies another friend, Stephen Temperton, killed in a separate accident only a fortnight earlier.

The two survivors - Ricky Moulder, who owned the car and was in the passenger seat, and Dylan's brother Jaydden - were still in hospital yesterday.

Jaydden's mother, Sonya Nichols, said he was still in intensive care but was improving. The family were dealing with his recovery "one day at a time", she said. Ricky had moved into a general ward and was also improving.

Che's sisters and his girlfriend, Ashleigh Harris, gathered at Ashleigh's home last week to remember him.

Che used to ride to school on a 50cc scooter and didn't have much experience with fast cars, Corrine said. Melissa bought him his first car, an "old bomb" of an automatic, chosen because it couldn't be driven fast.

His extra-curricular activities included work - at times, three jobs at once - and training for his long list of sports: rugby, basketball, badminton, squash, touch, canoe polo and cricket.

He was fluent in te reo, earning distinctions in the subject for two years running, and would text Ashleigh late-night messages in Maori. He played guitar and, like Dylan, loved the PlayStation karaoke game Singstar.

"I woke up one morning to Che singing Build me up buttercup in the living room in his boxers," said Stevie-Mel of the boy who was equally likely to listen to Dr Hook as he was to Snoop Dogg. His favourite movie was the comedy Napoleon Dynamite.

With sisters who were two, nine and 12 years older than him, he was "Mummy's little boy". "He was the baby but he was also the man of the house," said Corrine. "He really looked after mum."

He also looked after his cat, Snuffles, a pet he pampered with meals of pork chops he brought home from his part-time job as an assistant chef.

He was a young man so cheeky he started learning German just so he could make fun of his mates in another language.

With Dylan he shared "a bond you couldn't explain". The two didn't care what others thought of them, his sisters said. "Life is going to suck now without him," said Corrine.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY