The family of a Rotorua girl who walked away virtually uninjured after being hit by a logging truck have described her survival of the "terrifying" crash as a miracle.
Te Paea Waetford Heketa, 13, stepped on to Amohau St in front of an empty logging truck on Tuesday last week. She was knocked unconscious, but truck driver Dean Nikau managed to slow down in time to avoid running her over.
His actions are being praised as heroic and have prompted the police to point out how lives can be saved when drivers are vigilant and keep to the speed limit.
Te Paea and her friend were walking from Rotorua Girls' High School to the Rotorua Library about 3.40pm when they crossed the busy double lanes at the three-way intersection of Amohau and Pukuatua Sts.
From left, Piata Waetford Heketa, Pere Paul, Te Paea Waetford Heketa, Shelly Paul. Photo/Ben Fraser
Te Paea said she remembered looking right but didn't remember anything else until she woke up lying on the ground surrounded by people. She looked up and saw the logging truck in front of her and realised what had happened.
"I couldn't feel anything because I was in shock."
She spent a night in hospital and was checked for head injuries and concussion, but apart from a few grazes and bruises, was injury-free.
Te Paea's parents, who work in the city, were alerted by her friends who drove them to the crash site.
"It is a feeling that you just can't explain until you have been through it," said Te Paea's mother, Shelly Paul.
"We came down Pukuatua St and all we could see were the flashing lights of ambulance, fire and police and then I saw the logging truck.
"When I realised that's what had hit her, I just jumped out of the truck we were in before it had even stopped and ran towards her."
Te Paea's papa, Pere Paul, said his heart sank when he saw the truck.
"We stopped by Kahukura Rugby Club but Shelly had already started sprinting off. They were checking her vitals and I could see the bruises on her head. We didn't know if there were internal injuries or broken bones."
Pere Paul said he had a cousin who was hit by a truck years ago and died.
"You don't usually survive that kind of thing. With a pedestrian and a truck, you will always come off second best."
He said someone must have been looking after Te Paea.
"Te Paea carries her koro's name as her middle name, Eugena after Eugene Waetford, who died in 1999. He was really well known around Rotorua. He must have been there saying 'no go back, go back to your family'.
"She had head scans and x-rays and to be cleared of everything, it's just a miracle."
Te Paea's father, Manu Heketa, and brother, Tohu Waetford Heketa, travelled from Wellington when they heard about the accident, arriving in the early hours of the morning.
Shelly Paul said the family had talked since about how grateful they were.
"Our entire perspective about life and family has changed really. It's a traumatic, terrifying thing that's happened."
Shelly Paul said they couldn't thank the driver enough.
"The driver of the truck saved her life with his quick thinking. He is a hero."
She said Te Paea and her twin sister, Piata, had been brought up to always be safe and cautious but this was a simple lapse in judgment.
From left, Piata Waetford Heketa, Pere Paul, Te Paea Waetford Heketa, Shelly Paul. Photo/Ben Fraser
"It's not something I've been drilling into her because we are all now acutely aware how precious life is."
Nikau was too shy to be quoted or photographed but his partner, Hazel-Jean Paul, said the accident had left him shocked and shaken, particularly because the couple had three children, including daughters about the same age as Te Paea.
Hazel-Jean Paul said they went to Rotorua Hospital to see if she was okay and met Te Paea walking out of the hospital after being discharged.
"Seeing her walking and talking, he [Nikau] was full of emotion knowing that she was okay and seeing her for ourselves. We cried as soon as we realised it was her," Hazel-Jean Paul said.
She said her partner was back at work and was getting a lot of support from his colleagues.
Constable Gurvinder Singh of the Rotorua police road policing group said police didn't know what to expect when they were called to the crash.
"You do start to think this is not going to be good."
He said it appeared the truck had been travelling at or below the speed limit as there was only 1m of skid marks.
"She is so lucky, honestly. The driver should be commended on the good job he did at stopping."
Singh said witnesses had told police the girls were looking the other way and didn't see the truck. He said Te Paea's friend saw it last-minute but it was too late for Te Paea.
He said it was a good lesson for all drivers that if you followed the speed limit and concentrate on the road, serious crashes could be avoided.
Meanwhile, Pere Paul is calling for something to do be done about the stretch of Pukuatua St from the intersection with Old Taupo Rd near Rotorua Boys' High School to where it becomes Amohau St.
"It's four lanes and it's impossible to cross. It's especially dangerous with the high school kids trying to cross there. The next person may not be as lucky."
The Rotorua Daily Post has requested crash data from the New Zealand Transport Agency relating to that stretch of road but it wasn't available before publication.
