Mother's death gives life to others

Cathryn Carr. Photo / Supplied

The vision of her mother dying in a hospital bed after being knocked off her bicycle by a motorist asleep at the wheel is imprinted on Sarah Carr's mind.

"I felt sick. It just did not look like my mum, almost unrecognisable. She was so swollen and grazed, with tubes and machines everywhere. It was the most horrific experience that still haunts me."

The one "saving grace" for her family is that by donating Cathryn Carr's organs, "something good was going to come from this ugly situation", Miss Carr said.

"A 12-year-old boy has a heart, a married man in his 50s has a liver and a girl in her 20s now has a lung.

"Mum has continued to help others even after death. It's definitely what Mum would have wanted."

Mrs Carr, 51, was knocked from her bicycle near Christchurch by a car driven by factory worker Elina Vakarewa Macilquham, 63.

Macilquham told police she had been up all night worrying about a sick relative, before driving from the West Coast to Christchurch, and fell asleep at the wheel before hitting Mrs Carr from behind.

Mrs Carr had severe head injuries and died two days later, on April 5.

Yesterday, in the Christchurch District Court, Macilquham was sentenced to three months' community detention, disqualified from driving for 13 months, and ordered to pay $1257 for the bicycle she wrecked.

She hung her head and wiped away tears as the sentence was imposed.

Judge Michael Radford took into account that she had led an otherwise blameless life, and the loss she had caused "will be with her for the rest of her days".

Miss Carr met Macilquham after the accident, and found it healing. She did not want to see her go to jail.

"It just seemed like she was a mother with too much on her mind, who made a very silly decision to drive.

"And my heart just went out to her too, because she truly is struggling."