‘We should not be burying our children’

“It all started with meth.” These are the words of a grieving father who lost his son in a car crash in central Rotorua this week — the second family tragedy he has suffered after losing another son and that son’s mother in another road smash.

Jared Gray died after his car hit a tree at about midnight on Monday. A police spokesman said yesterday an investigation into the crash was ongoing.

Ron Gray, in an interview with the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend, talked about his 35-year-old son’s life, saying Jared was a ”hearty young fella” but one who had battled a meth addiction.

“I want this to be something people learn from,” Gray said. “He was a hearty worker but he got sick. The P made him sick.”

He hoped the suffering he and his family had endured would help send a message to others about the dangers of P.

“I hope this will be a lesson to all those young ones out there that are touching the methamphetamine. All you people selling it — you fellas are ruining our lives, our young ones’ lives, by selling this stuff . . . It has to stop.”

Tragically, this was not the first time Gray has had to say farewell to a son early. “It rips your guts out,” he said.

“This is the second son I’ve lost. My first son, he and his mother got killed in ’ 82, a logging truck hit them on the Waipa corner after dropping me off for work.”

He said Jared had been eager to rehabilitate but his pleas for help often went unheard. “He was screaming out for help. He wanted help but he couldn’t get help, he couldn’t find help. We, as a family, tried to help but our system lets us down.”