The grieving family of an Australian teenager killed in a road crash in the Bay of Plenty have published a heartfelt open letter of thanks on what would have been his 17th birthday.
The letter in the Rotorua Daily Post praises members of Police, Victim Support, other emergency workers, local people and officials for their actions following the crash in which student Gabriel Conor Runge, 16, and teacher Andre Vogel died.
Their van, driven by Mr Vogel, was in collision with a milk tanker on State Highway 5 near Reporoa on 28 November as their party from the Pengari Steiner School, Noosa, returned to Rotorua after completing the Tongariro Crossing.
The letter, published today (26 January) in the name of Gabriel’s parents and brother, begins: “Our beloved son Gabriel Conor Runge was a very proud Australian who was to have celebrated his 17th birthday today, on Australia Day.”
It goes on: “We - Pamela, Derrick and Godwin - wish to express our gratitude to the very many wonderful people in New Zealand who offered us their compassion, empathy, respect and support during this very tragic time.
“In particular, we found the New Zealand Police members attending the accident and assisting us with our enquiries to be wonderful ambassadors for their beautiful country.
“Inspector Kevin Taylor, Senior Sergeant Nicola Riordan and Constable David Mear spent many hours with us and at all times demonstrated patience, kindness, respect and professionalism.
“Equally, Sergeant Chris McLeod and Constable Pete Jones were courteous and helpful at this very distressing time.”
Rotorua Area Commander Inspector Bruce Horne says around 15 Police staff had been involved and had approached the tragedy with empathy at every stage.
“Every step along the way they were thinking about how it would be if it was their own family,” he says. “It was the 101 little things they did that made a big difference.”
Read the full letter on the Rotorua Daily Post website.