Crash victim: ‘I’m gonna die tonight’
A young girl killed in a fiery crash sent a message to a friend moments earlier saying she feared for her life.
Ashburton teen Tayla Alexander, 17, and her sister Sunmara Alexander, then 15, were in a car driven by a 19-year-old man when it crashed on the Port Hills, in Christchurch, about 11pm on November 27.
Passersby, then emergency services, fought the fire and pulled the occupants out. Tayla died in the crash, while Sunmara was critically injured with extensive burns. She died on December 13 – her 16th birthday – at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital. Stuff understands Tayla sent a text to a friend with concerns for her safety moments before the crash.
‘‘Bro, I’m gonna die tonight,’’ the text reportedly read.
Her friend replied: ‘‘Oh my god, WTF Tayla.’’
Tayla replied shortly after: ‘‘I’ve never been driven around the Port Hills so fast before.’’
The girls’ father, Jason Alexander, told Stuff on Wednesday he was sent messages about 10 minutes after Sunmara was taken off life support. He would not comment on what they said.
‘‘As you can imagine, I was angry at first. I can imagine obviously that my girls were scared, but anger’s not going to solve anything and [the driver is] still a kid himself. He had two beautiful girls in the car and he was just showing off,’’ Alexander said.
‘‘I forgive him, he’s just young himself. Being angry or bringing hate into it isn’t going to change anything, it isn’t going to bring Tayla and Sunmara back.’’
The past three weeks had been incredibly hard, he said.
‘‘My whole life just got ripped out from under me, everything just got taken away from me in one night.
‘‘I had to watch my other daughter die in front of my eyes ... I’m gutted.’’
Alexander said on social media he hoped action would be taken to change Summit Rd, where the crash happened.
‘‘Sunmara suffered so much, but hopefully not in vain. I would love to see that road sorted and more barriers up.’’