Family despair after car crash
As a little girl and her grandmother lay injured on a rural road their family was none the wiser.
The last time Rochelle, 25, saw her 3-year-old daughter she was in her car seat waving bye bye.
A few hours later Avery Sinclair’s face was cupped by an oxygen mask, her blood painted across her forehead.
Avery now lies in Starship children’s hospital in Auckland with a broken back, bruised bowel, a damaged neck ligament and a bruised spinal cord.
In Palmerston North Hospital every bone in the 39-year-old grandmother Melissa Sinclair’s face, both her shoulder blades, her ribs, legs and her ankles are broken, and she has a cracked skull.
The day of the crash, Rochelle – who didn’t want her last name used – and her family were finishing at Palmerston North’s Cloud 9 Trampoline Park when Avery insisted on travelling home with her nana.
Less than an hour later police and ambulance staff rushed to a single-car crash just before 4.30pm on Sunday February 16. Melissa and Avery were badly injured.
Firefighters cut Melissa from the wreck on Cemetery Rd, Sanson, about 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North.
The police serious crash unit was investigating, police said.
‘‘The wearing or not wearing of proper restraints is part of the ongoing investigation into the incident.’’
Avery’s parents Rochelle and Jonathon, twin brother
Lachlan and older sister Madison, 5, rushed to hospital when they heard about the crash.
‘‘Literally on the corner of our street we saw the accident sign and put two and two together.
‘‘We saw the car on the other side of the road with the roof and the doors cut off,’’ Rochelle said.
In the ward, Rochelle took Madison aside and explained why they were at the hospital, but didn’t give her all the details.
Avery was flown to Starship on Monday February 17.
The bruising on her spinal cord means she may never walk again, but she is recovering and has been speaking to her parents.
‘‘Whenever we touch her toes or tickle them she doesn’t react,’’ Rochelle said.
Meanwhile, Melissa’s physical injuries are expected to heal, but she also suffered brain damage. It wasn’t yet clear if that was permanent, Rochelle said.
A Givealittle page has been created to help pay for travel costs for Avery’s family and to help with her and Melissa’s rehabilitation.