Car crash wrecks Xmas

BY LUKE PARKER

It should have been a straight forward trip to the supermarket.

But Heather Taele’s journey to Pak’n’Save on December 10 took a turn for the worse when a car ploughed into the side of her uninsured Holden Astra.

Now she’s out of pocket and, more importantly, wondering how she will get her seriously ill father to regular medical appointments.

"My 67-year-old dad had a heart attack in August and a quadruple bypass in September," Mrs Taele says.

"I have been looking after him fulltime and he can’t be left alone for long periods of time.

"The car is vital to us because he has to have blood tests taken every other day.

"He also has severe shortness of breath and has to be taken back and forth to the doctor."

Mrs Taele was sitting at the lights on Swanson Rd when the collision occurred around 9.30pm.

The car that hit her was being chased by police.

"I could hear the cop cars and sirens in the distance.

"You just don’t think it’s going to connect to you in any way. I just can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem real."

The mother-of-three says the police were about five minutes behind.

"By the time they arrived I was in shock. All we could see was all these police cars roaring up Swanson Rd."

Mrs Taele’s car is going to cost more than $3000 to fix.

"Financially we have been trying to downsize everything and cut back on a lot of things," she says. "Having a person who’s sick in the family affects your finances in a great way.

"I rang our insurance company to stop the full insurance because my daughter said we could take it down to third party which is more affordable. It was just after my dad had the heart attack and was in and out of hospital.

"I was so caught up with everything that I forgot to start third party insurance until this happened. Then I realised we don’t have any insurance on the car.

"I’m very upset. This has ruined our Christmas."

Mrs Taele lives with her 19-year-old daughter and father. Her mother has had a stroke and lives in a nursing home.

- A 20 year- old man has been arrested in connection with the incident and will appear in court in January.

- © Fairfax NZ News