Back to page

Please help Samoa RSE survivors of the SH1 Ramarama fatal car crash

  • Survivor of horror State Highway 1 Ramarama crash partly paralysed, unable to speak

      27 October 2024
    Main image

    In the two months Lapi Toilolo Fanuasā has been fighting for his life in hospital, he has had life-saving brain surgery, marked his 21st birthday and discovered his older brother was among three men killed in a crash that left him with critical injuries.

    Much of the right side of his body is paralysed, he can’t speak and he has had part of his skull removed. Despite all that, he can still pose for the camera with a thumb’s-up.

      0 comments  |  Login to leave a comment

  • Samoan worker Va’amailalo Sasi Neru recounts fatal State Highway 1 crash between Bombay and Ramarama

      27 October 2024
    Main image

    Va’amailalo Sasi Neru remembers dozing off to sleep to the sound of his mates joking and laughing as they travelled in their van from the Bay of Plenty towards Auckland.

    When he woke, he saw a truck on the opposite side of the motorway veering straight towards them – then silence.

    The 42-year-old was one of six men, including five seasonal workers from Samoa – here under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme – in that van on Monday, August 26.

    Three of them were killed instantly in the collision on State Highway 1 between Bombay and Ramarama, Auckland.

    Neru and fellow survivor Tavita have both returned to Samoa.

    The bodies of Leauga and Kelemete have also been returned there, and their uncle Fa’aofo has been laid to rest in Auckland.

      0 comments  |  Login to leave a comment