A family’s thanks to a fallen friend
Jessie King never got to thank the man who saved the life of her and her brothers.
The now 19-year-old Hamilton woman was a toddler when Taupo adventurer Richard Ebbett jumped from a moving van to pluck the injured children from a ditch.
The four young children had been thrown from a trailer being towed by King’s father who was killed instantly in the crash.
On Saturday, her 39-year-old rescuer Ebbett, who King calls her ‘‘hero’’, died after falling into the crater lake while skiing on Mt Ruapehu.
News of his death was heartbreaking, King said.
‘‘I’m just a bit shocked. I didn’t know him but still it does hurt, not being able to ever meet him or get to know him.
‘‘I owe him my life.’’
She described Ebbett’s actions on that Sunday afternoon in Kawhia 16 years ago as ‘‘very heroic’’.
‘‘He was a hero. It was awesome to know that he was right there, at the right time.’’
From news reports at the time, Ebbett had been travelling home to Palmerston North in the back of his brother Maurice’s van after a motocross event in Kawhia on Sunday, February 4, 2001.
As they travelled along State Highway 1 a tractor appeared in front of them.
The driver, George Philip Tooman, 48, was heading to a friend’s house. He was towing a trailer with four young children on board. King, her two brothers now aged 24 and 18, and their cousin bumped along in the back.
But something went wrong and Tooman lost control of the tractor. It careered across the road, crashing into a ditch.
‘‘I could see this tractor in the ditch and the trailer upside-down. I jumped out while the van was still going. I just ran down to get the kids out,’’ Ebbett said later.
Two of the children were trapped by the trailer, and another 18-month-old was thrown face-down into a drain.
After freeing the two trapped, Ebbett pulled the upside down child from the water.
It is unclear, King said, whether she or her brother Julian had been the 18-month-old.
‘‘I do get some flashbacks, in my flashbacks it’s my little brother that was face down in the water but I don’t know.’’
Either way, he saved their lives that day, she said.
‘‘I’m glad I’m alive and happy.’’ After losing her father, King and her two brothers were raised by their grandparents.
They remained in Kawhia, where King attended primary school, until her grandmother died when she was six or seven.
After that the three children moved to Te Awamutu to live with their aunt. King spent nine years in Te Awamutu where she attended intermediate and college before moving to Hamilton to go to Melville High School.
‘‘My mum was never in my life until a few years ago, which was a bit hard.
‘‘But I had awesome grandparents who looked after me, and an aunty after my nana passed away.’’
King now lives in Hamilton, but frequently goes home to Kawhia to swim in the summertime. She’s never been back to the crash site.
King has a message for Ebbett’s family.
‘‘I send them my love, and tell them thank you. Even though Richard is gone, I still want to say thank-you.’’
Ebbett, who owned Moto SR Motorcycle Dealership in Ta¯ upo, had left his home to go skiing at Whakapapa last Thursday.
He was reported missing on Friday. Ebbett’s body was found in the Mt Ruapehu crater lake and a friend suspects he fell into the lake after removing his skis to access a popular viewing point.
Ebbett will be farewelled at the Awapuni Racecourse in Palmerston North this Saturday.