Mum wants tragedy trust

Noah McOnie, pictured with Coco, was the sweetest little kid, says his mother. Photo / Supplied

The mother of a boy who died after being electrocuted outside his grandfather's house wants to start a trust for parents suffering similar tragedies.

Seven-year-old Noah McOnie was electrocuted in May last year after swinging from a fence stake on a grass verge outside Ken Burns' Napier home.

The movement brought the stake into contact with an unprotected 240v live cable that had been placed underground by electricity company Unison Networks.

New grass had been sown over the area after the underground work finished two months earlier, and Burns had hammered the stakes into the soft ground to secure polythene over the area.

As a result of recommendations made by Hawke's Bay coroner Chris Devonport, Unison are developing a range of public warnings to prevent further incidents.

Noah's mother Nick McOnie welcomed Devonport's recommendations but said the incident highlighted a lack of support for parents hit by the sudden death of children.

She wanted to start a trust to support families, particularly those unable to work because of the trauma and stresses of such loss.

"You get your three days' bereavement leave and ACC cover the funeral expenses," she said.

"That's about it, and I'm just very lucky that I work for such a fantastic company that allowed me time off work and support for when I returned."

McOnie, who has another son named Austin, said she lost almost everything after Noah's death including her marriage, house and champion show pony business.

"He was the sweetest little kid. He would have grown up to be someone's amazing husband. It is incredibly hard to be without him."

The coroner's inquiry was told about the day Noah died by his devastated grandfather.

"He was facing the road and had his back to me," said Burns. "Noah was standing up while doing this and then leaned slightly to the left.

"He didn't say anything and he wasn't moving in any strange way. After about 20 seconds, Noah started to collapse to his left and ended up lying on the piece of concrete near the letterbox."

St John paramedics tried for two hours to revive him.

McOnie said the tragedy was compounded by Unison's apparent lack of remorse.

"There was no recognition that a child was involved. It's surreal. They were more or less discussing about defending themselves."

Unison spokesman Danny Gough said Noah's death was "an absolute tragedy".

The company was totally committed to ensuring public safety around lines, and had invested heavily in education, but the tragedy had shown "there is always more we can do".

- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY