Family ‘shattered’ by man’s death
A grieving Christchurch woman has to work out how to ‘‘pick up those pieces and start again’’ after her partner of 24 years was killed in a crash.
Thomas Te Whaiti, 45, died in hospital on Saturday after colliding with a car at the intersection of Yaldhurst Rd and Peer St in Sockburn, Christchurch, a day earlier.
Sharon Behague said her husband always looked out for others.
After the February 2011 earthquake, she worried when he did not return home.
‘‘I thought he had been hurt . . . but no, he’s actually gone round and checked on all the people that were alone that he knew.’’
She and their four children were ‘‘absolutely shattered’’ by his death.
‘‘He was absolutely our world. I don’t even know what I’m doing with myself now after 24 years. It’s like I don’t even know how to pick up those pieces and start again, but we’ll sure miss him.’’
Behague said she suffered a significant spinal cord injury in 2016, which left her needing to learn how to walk again.
‘‘He cared for me through all of that and stuck with me through thick and thin,’’ she said.
Te Whaiti worked in dispatch at Ravensdown in Christchurch. He was a keen pa¯ ua diver, played rugby for the O¯ tautahi Rugby Club and was passionate about riding his motorcycle.
‘‘He was always out finding new spots – wherever we were in the country he would go diving.’’
A funeral service was held on Sunday for friends and family in Christchurch before family took Te Whaiti back to his hometown of Ruatoria, in the Gisborne region, for another service yesterday.
Police said the investigation into the cause of the crash was ongoing and Te Wahiti’s death had been referred to the coroner.