‘She was my everything’: Driver speaks out after car plunge into ocean kills wife of 55 years
Bruce Imrie and his wife of 55 years were five minutes from home when he ‘‘blanked out’’, crashed their car through a barrier, down a rocky bank and into the sea.
Passersby dived into the water on Saturday to rescue the Christchurch couple from their car, which was sinking rapidly near the mouth of the Avon-Heathcote Estuary. They freed Imrie, but not his 73-year-old wife, Maureen. Her body was found inside the submerged wreckageon Sunday by police divers.
Yesterday, 77-year-old Imrie broke down as he recalled the events before the crash that claimed the life of his soulmate.
‘‘It’s hard to forget,’’ he said, ‘‘it just keeps coming back.’’
Imrie said they were driving home with the sea on their right, about 5.50pm.
‘‘We went around the corner and next minute I’m getting dragged out of a sinking car,’’ he said. ‘‘I must have just blanked out.’’
Imrie said he was hauled to shore where all he could think about was his wife, ‘‘my everything’’.
‘‘I just asked if they got her and, of course, they wouldn’t reply.‘‘
Imrie met Maureen in England in 1958 when she was only 15. They spent several years in various countries, including an 18-year stint in Australia before returning to Christchurch.
It had been a tough few years for the couple. They lost their home in the February 2011 earthquake and Maureen had had two strokes since.
‘‘The one thing she was afraid of was having another one and being an invalid.’’ Imrie always hoped he would be the first to die.
‘‘It’s going to be a very hard life. There’s not much in life I want now ... there’s only one thing that matters and that’s our relationship.’’
The couple, who celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last year, had two children and two grandchildren. Maureen was ‘‘loved by everyone’’ and never spoke a bad word, Imrie said. ‘‘She never put herself first.’’
As he looked at old photos of Maureen on his wall at home, Imrie said she looked the same as the day they met. ‘‘She hasn’t changed in my lifetime, she’s always looked young.’’
Imrie was grateful to everyone who helped with the rescue. ‘‘They did a marvellous job.’’
Witnesses said they saw the car drive straight through a bend instead of veering left.
Deborah Roberts parked up immediately after seeing the crash, and her friend jumped into the water, joining about six men who were already at the car.
The car sank ‘‘so quick’’ and the group were getting swept away by the current, but the group managed to pull Imrie to shore. Imrie asked where his wife was, Roberts said.
Emergency services and lifeguards arrived then, but no-one could find the car.