Campaign to bring John home
A crowd-funding campaign has been launched to bring home an Auckland man who has sustained a serious head injury in Rarotonga.
John Tavaga moved to the island to honour the wishes of his late wife, who died last year after a battle with cervical cancer.
Tavaga, who grew up in Papatoetoe, is now in a coma after a motorbike crash early Friday morning in Rarotonga.
‘‘It’s such a tragic, tragic, tragic situation . . . the family has just been rocked again,’’ sister-inlaw Irene Peterson says.
Peterson flew to Rarotonga immediately after hearing of the crash and said the extent of Tavaga’s brain injuries were unknown.
They had received the best care Rarotonga could offer, but the hospital lacked a key piece of equipment for examining the head injury, she said.
‘‘We need to get him out.’’ Tavaga crashed his motorbike while returning from a friend’s house.
‘‘The roads in Rarotonga are notorious, especially when it is wet, so unfortunately he came off his bike and he’s now in critical condition.’’
Tavaga had been working at a resort on the island after moving there nine months ago.
He previously lived in Port Macquarie, New South Wales with his late wife Taegen McNamara-Tavaga.
Tavaga and McNamaraTavaga married shortly before her death to cervical cancer in June 2015. She was 29 years old.
‘‘Rarotonga was her favourite place in the world. It was always their plan to come back and live here, so he was carrying out their wishes,’’ Peterson says.
The fundraising effort had received an ‘‘overwhelming’’ amount of support so far.
More than 450 people have donated nearly $35,000 towards the $100,000 goal on the ‘‘Help Us Bring JT Home’’ GoFundMe page.
‘‘He’s well-known, wellrespected, well-loved, he’s just an amazing person. That obviously shows from all the support we’re getting from around the world,’’ Peterson says.
‘‘Thank you is not enough . . . there are no words to describe the gratitude we have towards everybody who has simply donated or sent prayers our way.’’
Go to gofundme.com/johntavaga to make a donation to help bring John Tavaga back from Rarotonga.