Man stepped to his death

A man fatally struck by a truck when hitchhiking mistimed his effort to catch the driver’s attention, a coroner has ruled.

Anthony James Shramka died on State Highway 3, near Turakina, Rangitı¯kei, in March 2014 when he stepped into a truck and trailer unit’s path.

Coroner Carla na Nagara, who released her findings into the death yesterday, said Shramka was hitchhiking back to Whanganui when he made a fatal mistake.

She did not believe the 27-yearold’s death was a suicide, despite his history of mental health problems.

He died at the scene. Shramka was living between his mother’s house in Marton, his father’s home in Hawera and a caravan park in Whanganui. He was known to hitchhike between the three properties.

He suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and had an extensive background with Mental Health Services and police.

He was admitted to the Whanganui District Health Board’s inpatient mental health facility in 2014 following an incident at his mother’s house where he locked himself in his room and set his bed alight.

The evening before his death he arrived at his brother’s house, where his mother was staying after the fire, and asked if he could stay with her.

She said no, because of the fire. His brother said he could help him get back to Whanganui, but he did not have enough petrol to take him all the way.

After he dropped Shramka off, he called the police incase Shramka tried to break into their mother’s house.

A constable arrived and offered to take Shramka as far as Turakina.

He dropped him in a well-lit area in Turakina.

The driver of the truck that hit Shramka said as he entered Turakina, he saw a person on the left side of the road.

‘‘I saw the [man] turn his head and look at my truck.

‘‘As I was about to drive past him, the [man] ran out in front of my truck at an angle towards my left light.’’

The driver instantly slowed down to avoid him, but he couldn’t.