Fatal crash on way to life-saving surgery trip
A man who allegedly caused a fatal crash on a Canterbury highway was driving to the airport to take his daughter to Germany for life-saving surgery.
The Press understands the driver, who is a New Zealand resident, crossed the centreline on the Parnassus Rd section of State Highway 1, north of Cheviot, in North Canterbury, just after
2pm on Sunday.
Cheviot local Vernon Leslie Eade, 78, also known as Les, was killed in the crash. His wife, Ann Eade, was badly injured.
It is understood the driver of the other car was travelling to Christchurch Airport, where he and his daughter were booked on a flight to Germany.
A police spokeswoman confirmed a
48-year-old man has been charged with careless or inconsiderate vehicle operation causing death and careless or inconsiderate vehicle operation causing injury. He was due to appear in court on Monday.
It is understood the man has been allowed to leave the country for his daughter’s surgery.
The Eades’ son, Dave Eade, told The Press he and his mother would call each other whenever the Cheviot fire brigade alarm rang to see if they were OK.
After hearing the siren about 2pm on Sunday, Eade could not get an answer on either of his parents’ cellphones.
‘‘At that point I knew there was a problem, so I went looking for them.’’
Eade came across the crash about 15 minutes later and saw his mother being loaded into a helicopter. A police officer at the scene told him his father was dead.
‘‘I was gutted, but then my focus was on my Mum. It’s just what you do. There will be time to grieve Dad later.’’
Eade said his mother, who is in Christchurch Hospital with broken ribs, a cracked sternum and cuts and bruises, had no memory of the crash that killed her husband of 52 years.
‘‘She’s devastated, she’s lost her life partner.
‘‘She’s a very stoic woman. We’ve got to concentrate on getting her better.’’
Eade described his father as an ‘‘incredible gentleman’’ and ‘‘eccentric
‘‘I was gutted, but then my focus was on my Mum. It’s just what you do. There will be time to grieve Dad later.’’
Dave Eade
Son who arrived at parents’ crash scene
genius’’, who worked as an engineer.
‘‘What he couldn’t build or what he couldn’t design was not worth doing. If anything was ever broken he didn’t just fix it, he redesigned it and rebuilt it and made it better than it ever was before.
‘‘The community’s devastated, because if there was a problem you went around to my Dad’s to get it fixed.’’
The couple own a five-acre block in Cheviot, with about 100 grapevines. Les Eade made his own wine, beer and spirits.
Dave Eade said police told him the driver of the other car was believed to have crossed the centre-line.
‘‘It’s just unnecessary and so wrong,’’ he said.
Cheviot Fire Brigade chief Grant Burnett, who attended the crash, said members of the brigade knew the couple.
‘‘It’s hard to go to something like that. Everyone in the brigade did know him really well.’’
Senior Sergeant Stephen McDaniel said earlier that the crash was still under investigation, but police were looking at whether driver fatigue was a factor.
Three people were killed on Canterbury roads on Sunday. Canterbury road policing manager acting Inspector Greg Cottam said earlier it was a ‘‘black day on our roads’’.
The crashes take Canterbury’s road toll to 17 since January 1, down from 26 at the same time last year.