At an emotional funeral at Avondale College, Sanele Pauli's mother Teevao choked back tears yesterday as she recalled her eldest son.
"He was the kind of character we all aspire to be. He was friendly, funny, loving, humble and obedient. We trusted him with everything," she said.
Looking at his casket, which was draped in a white and blue shroud, she said: "Thank you for making me the most blessed mother, to have you as my son and now my guardian angel."
The night New Zealand was celebrating the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup victory, two very different lives collided.
On the bus home with his younger siblings was 17-year-old Sanele Pauli, a "model" student about to graduate from Avondale College and the "best son" a mother could hope for. Speeding towards the city and over the breath-alcohol limit was a 38-year-old disqualified driver with three drink-driving convictions.
