Gift of car restores amputee’s freedom
An Auckland woman whose car was wrecked when it was rear-ended by an alleged drunk driver has been presented with a new vehicle.
Barbara Hansen-Galyer, who lost a leg to bone cancer as a teenager, told the Weekend Herald that losing her car had jeopardised her independence.
She had relied on the trusty station wagon for nearly two decades. It had had never broken down, she said.
On July 6, Hansen-Galyer was in Flat Bush when she saw a car hurtling towards her in the rear-view mirror. It smashed into her vehicle with such an impact that it crumpled the rear-end. The driver is facing two charges. In the weeks that followed the crash Hansen-Galyer found it depressing to be without her go-to means of transport and said she hated seeing her smashed-up car sitting in the driveway.
Yesterday a new Pearce Brothers dealership in Grey Lynn presented her with a car.
Hansen-Galyer said she was overwhelmed by the kind gesture and when she was driving away in her new ride she could not stop thinking how she needed to give something back as well.
“I was just blown away. I’ve never even won anything in my life, let alone be given something like that.”
Pearce Brothers Grey Lynn sales and finance manager Mathew Hawken said the company was big on giving back to the community.
“It was something that we had seen in the Herald and we talked about amongst ourselves as a group,” he said. “We wanted to help a lady who obviously hasn’t had everything easy throughout life.”
They had felt a Honda Odyssey was a good choice because it was a “really nice family car”.