Dad farewells second daughter
A father has farewelled his second daughter in as many weeks after they both died from injuries suffered in a fiery late-night crash.
Tayla Alexander, 17, died when the car she was in crashed on Summit Rd, in Christchurch’s Port Hills, on November 27. Her sister, Sunmara, 15, suffered extensive burns and was taken to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
Sunmara underwent several skin grafts and the amputation of one of her arms in a bid to stop infection spreading. She died in hospital last Friday – her 16th birthday.
Hundreds filed into the Ashburton Hotel yesterday for Sunmara’s funeral, just two weeks after Tayla was farewelled.
The 16-year-old’s purple coffin, adorned with purple flowers and tributes, sat at the front of the room while family and friends paid tribute to a ‘‘cheeky’’ girl who had a ‘‘unique sense of humour’’.
Her father, Jason Alexander, wore a black T-shirt featuring a photo of Sunmara and Tayla and the words ‘‘fly high, together’’. He fought back tears as he described the close relationship he had with his daughters.
‘‘Tayla and Sunmara were just like best friends. People say two is company but three’s a crowd, but it was never a crowd with us.
‘‘We were strong, we were united, we always stuck together, we were unbreakable and only death would break us.’’
He urged parents to ‘‘appreciate’’ the time they had with their children.
‘‘Forget about the worries of work . . . sometimes as adults we can get caught up in our own worries, in life and bills, and sometimes people forget about their kids but, see, they’re really, really special.
‘‘Appreciate every minute every hour, every day with your children as you never know when they will be taken from you.’’
Alexander’s twin brother, Dean, said he hoped his nieces’ deaths would be a ‘‘wake-up call’’ to ‘‘all people that get behind the wheel’’.
‘‘Accidents happen . . . and always will [but] I tell my own son if you drive the way you did when you got your licence with the guy sitting beside you and we all drove like that, we’d probably lower the road toll quite a lot.’’
The family had suffered a ‘‘heartache noone can heal’’, he said. ‘‘Enjoy life, enjoy family and enjoy your friends and don’t stress the small s... because it’s not worth it [and] you never know when that phone call is going to come that’s going to change your entire life.’’
Just like at her sister’s funeral two weeks before, a haka was performed as Sunmara’s coffin was carried to the hearse. A rumbling procession of classic motorcycles led the hearse to the cemetery.