'I wish I could have done more for driver'

Christopher Hammond died in Monday's accident. Photo / Supplied

An off-duty police officer who slid down a 25m cliff to help pull a man from Lake Taupo and try to resuscitate him, wishes she could have done more to save him.

Holding his hand for some time after ambulance staff "called it", Constable Kathy Pomfrett's heart went out to the family of 23-year-old Tauranga trucker Christopher Hammond - particularly as she has a son the same age.

"That always makes it harder ... My thoughts are always with the family. I guess that's why I ended up hanging on to his hand for so long," she told the Herald yesterday, her voice wavering as she recalled the moment.

The 46-year-old mother of four was on holiday in the North Island - taking a break from her job with the Nelson Youth Aid Unit - when she came across the scene of yesterday's fatal truck accident at Houmahanga Pt by Lake Taupo.

Miss Pomfrett knew an accident had happened because a crowd was gathered around cars, but she couldn't see any police.

So she did what any officer would have done, she said.

"I saw the truck over the side and thought 'there are no cops here, I should go'. The only way to get down was to sit back and hope for the best."

On reaching the bottom - dirty but unscathed - Miss Pomfrett discovered a volunteer fireman was towing the man's body back to shore.

"He had got him to the edge, but couldn't lift him out by himself.

"I put him in recovery and did the best I could, but unfortunately it wasn't enough," she said .

Paramedics also tried to revive the man, without success.

Miss Pomfrett repeated her frustration at not being able to do more to help.

"I'm just disappointed I wasn't able to get a better result and certainly my thoughts are with the family."

She praised the efforts of the fireman.

Miss Pomfrett - who recently returned from six months in the Solomon Islands - said it came down to adrenaline in situations like that.

But it never got any easier.

"It's always harder when they are the same age as your own children. They are the ones that stick in your brain the most."

Meanwhile, a funeral for members of the family killed in a collision north of Taupo on Friday will be held at the Kutarere Marae in Opotiki at 11am today.

Friends and relatives will gather to farewell Georgie Taitapanui, 45, her daughter Anna Marie Kemp, 22, and Anna Marie's adopted son Ratapu.

Anna Marie's partner, Wellis Lauano, 23, was also killed in the collision.