KEY POINTS:
The South African grandmother of the 5-year-old whose parents were killed by a train at the weekend is considering moving to New Zealand to be closer to the little girl.
Brent Coombes, 39, and his wife Renee Coombes, 35, died when a train hit their car at the Ohingaiti rail crossing on State Highway 1, 34km southwest of Taihape.
Their daughter Reef, who was in the back seat, escaped with minor injuries.
Speaking from Kwelera, near East London, Mr Coombes' mother, Jean, choked back tears as she told the Herald what precious people the couple were.
Mrs Coombes said Brent and Renee moved to New Zealand in 2005 to escape crime in South Africa before Reef was old enough to start school.
Mrs Coombes said she loved New Zealand and was thinking about moving here in a couple of months to be closer to her daughter Kim Smith and to Reef.
She said Reef would live in Auckland with Mrs Smith, her husband and their two children aged 4 and 8.
"I feel so blessed. People think I'm crazy for saying that but I'm glad they're not lying badly beaten up in a hospital. I just wish they could come back and say to me, 'Ma, we're okay, don't worry'."
When Jean Coombes heard the phone ring on Saturday morning, the first thing she thought was, 'Oh my God, I hope it's not Brent and Renee'.
But the 64-year-old's intuition was right.
The couple had been heading to Taupo to visit friends from South Africa who were thinking of moving permanently to New Zealand.
Mrs Coombes said Brent and Renee had recently built a house in Newlands, Wellington, and her son, who owned his own helicopter crop spraying business in Nelson, had earned his private pilot's licence about a week ago.
"Reef got to fly with her daddy for the first time. Mum was the discipliner and Daddy was the fun parent. They had plans and they were slowly fulfilling them."
Renee had just got a new job as an office administrator in Wellington after working as a kindergarten teacher.
Mrs Coombes was yet to talk to her granddaughter.
"I will talk to her later when I am calmer. I don't want to be weepy and upset her," she said.
"She's being very, very brave. She knows what's going on. Her parents have kept her as close to reality as possible.
"She's amazing, so wise for her age. If you'd met her you would understand. She was the only South African girl in her school and everyone loved her."
Mrs Coombes recalls a phone call from her son recently. He told her he'd taken Reef to see a movie where the father had died.
"Reef sat on her Daddy's lap and said, 'I don't want you to die daddy'. He sat her down and explained it wasn't going to happen."
Mrs Coombes said she and her husband Bill were thinking about moving to Wellington in a couple of months to be closer to Reef and their daughter.
She thinks barrier arms need to be put up at the crossing where the pair died. On a holiday to New Zealand, Mrs Coombes' nephew from Australia had come across the same crossing and told her, "This crossing is nasty. There's going to be an accident there."
Meanwhile, Reef's supporters have been in touch with her Wellington school, Bellevue Primary.
Principal Jan Win said the school had a trauma team who would speak to Reef and her extended family today.
"The family have all our support and understanding."
Ms Win said Reef had been at Bellevue since November and no decision had been made about whether she would continue to attend the school.
Mrs Smith, who rushed to Wellington after the tragedy, told the Herald on Sunday that Reef had told her: "My mummy and daddy are dead and I've got to be strong."
"Reef is just beautiful," Mrs Smith said. "She's a real sweetie.
"She has been really strong but I suppose she doesn't really understand it at the moment."
