Hona Robinson was killed after colliding with a truck in Rotorua on Saturday morning. Photo / File
Hona Robinson was killed after colliding with a truck in Rotorua on Saturday morning. Photo / File
When Hona Robinson told his father he was going to be a national champion fighter within a year, his father didn't want to burst his bubble - he just nodded and smiled and said: "That's good son".
"Then blow me down he did it," Jason Robinson said.
For two years in a row, Hona - the motorcyclist killed in a crash in Rotorua over Easter weekend - had been the New Zealand featherweight Muay Thai champion.
Hona Robinson wins one of his fights. Photo / Supplied
Hona, 19, was killed when he came off the motorcycle he was riding on Edmund Rd and slid underneath a passing truck on Clayton Rd.
The crash happened just after 11am on the Saturday and emergency services weren't able to save him.
Hona Robinson was killed after colliding with a truck in Rotorua on Saturday morning. Photo / File
His devastated father and mother, Jenny, are now reflecting on what their son's life might have been. Their son had a big future in mixed martial arts.
Hona Robinson. Photo / Supplied
"Hona was a loving, polite and respectful young man. He was a good boy. A really good boy and we're going to miss him ...
"It was one of the hardest things we've had to do is bury your kids. They should be carrying us and burying us," Jason said.
"He was 19, ready to step up to the world. He didn't have a chance to have kids or get married ... It's heart-wrenching, man."
Hona's brother, Jason jnr, and sister, Anastasia, loved their baby brother and have visited his graveside in Litchfield every day, where he is buried alongside his grandparents.
Hona Robinson. Photo / Supplied
"They miss him terribly," Jenny said.
She said Hona was a son who would always hug his family and tell them he loved them, just as they did with him.
"Just tell your children you love them every day. If we could have one more minute with our son, it would mean the world to us," she said.
Jason and Jenny said they had been overwhelmed by the hundreds of people who came and showed their "amazing love and support" to their son and family in the days following Hona's death.
"To our families and friends, we are blessed and thank you all.
"That was our boy, always there to lend a helping hand. He had done so much in his life and he was only 19."
