Heartbreak of losing Whakaari nurse heard as driver sentenced
The husband of a nurse who cared for Whakaari/White Island victims before she was killed in a car crash says he feels as if half of him is gone.
Rhys Bugden told the Rotorua District Court this week he had lost his soulmate Sheila Bugden in the on December, 2019 smash.
The man responsible for the death of the intensive care nurse has been sentenced to 200 hours’ community work, disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay $11,000 in emotional harm reparation.
Anthony Paul Jacobus McMillan, 54, a church pastor from Whakata¯ne, previously pleaded guilty to careless driving causing Sheila Bugden’s death and four charges of careless driving causing injury to William Kirk, Rhys Bugden, Michelle Lee and a child.
The reparation was made up of $5000 for Rhys Bugden and $2000 for each of the three other surviving victims.
The crash happened when McMillan, who was travelling on State Highway 30 towards Rotorua, crossed the centre line on a right-hand bend near Hell’s Gate, crashing head on into the oncoming vehicle.
The five victims were travelling from Rotorua to Whakata¯ne after a day sightseeing to help Sheila Bugden wind down after treating burns victims from the Whakaari/White Island eruption.
McMillan’s lawyer Tim Braithwaite told the court McMillan remembered feeling chest pains before blacking out and he woke up as he was being pulled from the vehicle.
Sheila Bugden, who was in the back seat of the other vehicle, died at the scene.
Rhys Bugden, 50, was critically injured suffering a punctured small intestine, multiple bowel injuries, torn colon and other internal injuries.
In a victim impact statement read in court, Bugden described through tears how he had always wanted to get married and he finally married Sheila at age 45.
“Now I’m 50 and I’m single again. “I’m missing my wife. She was my soulmate and it feels like half of me is gone.”
He said the Covid-19 lockdown meant he had to self-isolate at a time when he needed others most.
The other people in the car with the Bugdens were Michelle Lee, her fiance William Kirk and Kirk’s granddaughter.
Lee, 38 at the time of the crash, suffered several broken ribs, two fractures in her sternum, two fractures in her neck, bruising and possible punctured lungs and a broken back.
In court, she said the scars from the injuries were a daily reminder of the crash.
“I was holding on to Sheila’s hand calling out her name and begging her to wake up as she was resuscitated.”
Lee said she now struggled to concentrate, felt anxiety, and suffered financially and physically.
“A relaxing trip after Sheila tirelessly provided intensive care for Whakaari victims turned into a nightmare. Our hearts have broken into pieces.”
Lee’s fiance Kirk described giving his then 7-year-old granddaughter CPR.
He said he still had flashbacks and was angry at himself for not protecting the passengers.
Speaking directly to McMillan, Kirk said: “These actions of yours turned my heart black with anger.”
He labelled McMillan “coldhearted” and a “coward” for taking almost a year to plead guilty.
The victim impact statement of Amanda Kirk, William Kirk’s daughter and the mother of the child who was in the crash, was read on her behalf.
She said the phone call from her father telling her the news still haunted her and brought her to tears.
“There are no words that describe the heartbreak hearing your only child has been hurt in any way shape or form and you weren’t there to protect them . . . The whole world stops when you are waiting to hear if your child is alive or not.”
Braithwaite said McMillan had been diagnosed with sleep apnoea after the crash and suffered from crippling anxiety and depression.
“He now hides away. This is a far cry of the confident pastor of the past.”
Judge Maree McKenzie said the psychological scars from the crash clearly ran deep.
“For Mr Bugden the consequences of the crash are catastrophic. He lost his wife and soulmate.”
She acknowledged the victims’ trauma had been made worse by the long court process and described their victim impact statements as “raw”, “emotional,” and “harrowing”.
She hoped the end of the court process would provide some closure.