Triple-fatal crash in Canterbury: Sam Drost's mother forgives driver

Samuel James Drost died in a car crash in Leeston, Christchurch just after Christmas. Photo / Facebook

The mother of a teen-boy killed in a triple-fatality car crash in Canterbury has forgiven the young man who was behind the wheel on December 26.

Cole Troy Hull, Samuel 'Sammy' James Drost and Lily Frances Moore - all 15 year olds from Canterbury - died when a car they were in, being driven at high speed by a 14-year-old boy, crashed near Leeston.

Drost's mother Tracey told Fairfax there was "absolutely no anger or resentment" towards the 14-year-old unlicensed driver. He was seriously hurt in the crash but has been released from hospital.

She said each of the five people in the car had "made their own decisions".

"I love him [the driver] . . . He's got a hard road of recovery. I would like to see him do well and see his milestones and I hope he grows up to be a lovely young man which I'm sure he will.

"With our support he's going to get through this. I know he knows that we care deeply for him."

Drost's family had already experienced tragedy this year. His father had died in May after an 11-month battle with cancer. Tracey said the last two weeks had been "something you never, ever want to experience".

"The sun comes up in the morning and you have to wake up and keep breathing."

Tracey described her son as a "typical teenager" who loved sport, music and the outdoors.

"He was funny, he made us laugh a lot, he was just a entertainer. All the teachers at school said they couldn't help but like him, he was just a likeable kid.

15-year-old Lily Moore who died in the triple-fatality car crash. Photo / Supplied

"I loved him, I keep looking at photos and movies of him, I was lucky to have him, we all loved him. It's a waste of those three lives."

Like Moore's father, Tracey thought Drost was home the night of the crash. She said the car the teens were in was hers. She declined to say how it was taken.

"It just seems very unreal to us at the moment and our hearts go out to all the families involved and we've just had awesome support from family and friends in the wider community.

"If the kids don't learn from this dreadful tragedy then those kids died for nothing."