Town in mourning
‘‘Every school deals with things, tragic situations or death, in their own way.’’
Whetu Cormack
Eight months after losing their son a Taranaki family is now mourning the loss of their eightyear-old daughter.
Emma Warren was killed on Wednesday in a collision with a truck at the intersection of Rata St and Miro St in Inglewood as she cycled home from school about 3.15pm.
Emma was the daughter of S’ean and Karren Warren, who lost their son Tyler Gilbert in a suspected suicide in the early hours of January 7 this year.
Tyler was Karren’s son and S’ean’s stepson and since his death the couple have been heavily involved with community initiatives aimed at reducing youth suicide.
Emma’s death was labelled as a ‘‘horrific’’ tragedy by police and has devastated the small town.
Yesterday a bouquet of pink roses was tied to the give-way street sign at the intersection.
Other bunches, including lilies, camelias, gerberas and daffodils, lay on the footpath alongside cards offering condolence.
Hundreds of people have also taken to social media to express their sympathy for the family and friends of Emma and driver of the truck.
New Plymouth’s deputy mayor and owner of Fun Fo! Toy Museum in Inglewood, Richard Jordan, said the news was devastating.
‘‘It’s a tragedy for the family and a tragedy for the community,’’ he said. ‘‘They need time to grieve.’’ Emma was a student at Inglewood Primary School.
Sergeant Allan Trow, Taranaki Highway Patrol, said on Wednesday it appeared the truck had been turning out of Miro St on to Rata St when the crash happened.
The Serious Crash Unit is investigating the cause of the crash and police are providing support for the family.
Murray Burton, principal of Elim Christian College in Auckland, which lost six students and a teacher in a flash flood in the Mangatepopo Gorge in 2008, said a tragedy in the school community is one of the most difficult situations a school can face.
‘‘You just tread one day at a time,’’ he said.
‘‘Some students just carry on; some students need a place to reflect and... the guidance of counsellors.’’
He said it was important keep everyone informed and to support the family, but not put too many people around them.
He said they got through the Mangatepopo Gorge tragedy by asking ‘‘if it was me what would I need, how would I respond and then just navigating your way slowly’’.
‘‘I think that grief was given to us for a practical reason and that was to negotiate and navigate the terrible things that come our way and we must let that happen, let that take its course.’’
Inglewood Primary School principal Karen Patterson said the school and wider community extended its ‘‘deepest sympathy’’ to the family and close friends. Yesterday the school’s Facebook page said the Ministry of Education Traumatic Incident Team was providing support and guidance to the staff, students and school community.
Whetu Cormack, president of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation, said it was an awful thing to have happened.
‘‘Every school deals with things, tragic situations or death, in their own way,’’ he said.
He said while he had never been through the situation himself, from talking to colleagues he said the Ministry of Education had a great trauma team.
‘‘The Ministry of Education would have been there this morning to help get the school and the board and the community through this... These experts have been trained to deal with this and protocol when there’s a death.
‘‘Teachers are human, they’re emotional people, so they would be thinking very carefully about how to inform the community and obviously the other children of the school.’’
He said sometimes a school would close for the day, or families would be invited to take part in a tangi or funeral.
‘‘A death in itself is hard to deal with but a sudden death is such a terrible situation.’’
He said the Principals’ Federation was thinking about the family and the school.
The death is believed to be the third on the region’s roads in 2017 and the 14th of a cyclist nationally.
The truck driver was not injured in the crash but Road Transport Association area executive Tom Cloke said the company would have systems in place to deal with the traumatic event.
‘‘There are always systems in place to provide professional help for those drivers,’’ he said. ‘‘Whenever there’s trauma we seek professional assistance.’’
The employer always initiates professional assistance, he said.
‘‘It’s a terrible situation to have this happen to anybody and the families involved, and our condolences go out to the family and everyone involved.
‘‘It affects everybody.’’