KEY POINTS:
An 18-month-old boy run over by his father in the family's driveway in the Far North died early yesterday.
The child was at his house in Kaikohe when his father backed over him about 7.40 on Sunday night, leaving him with severe head injuries.
An ambulance took him to nearby Lindvart Park, where the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter was able to land, guided by a lighting unit the Kaikohe fire brigade had set up.
The toddler was flown to Northland Base Hospital in Whangarei accompanied by his mother and father.
St John Northland operations manager Tony Devanney said paramedics performed advanced airway care in the ambulance to help the child breathe.
A tube was inserted down his throat and into his lungs.
But he died about 2.30am yesterday. He had not been publicly identified last night.
Neighbours said the boy's body was taken back to the house yesterday evening and whanau members were seen coming and going.
Senior Constable Warren Bunn, from the Whangarei serious crash unit, said police would speak to the parents within the next few days after they had time to grieve.
