A six-year-old Indian boy has been killed in a road accident, the family is mourning and his mother still is not aware that her son is no more.
Lovedeep Singh of Papatoetoe was killed on his way to the annual Punjabi kabadi [wrestling] games in Takanini on Sunday when a van belonging to Tauranga relatives rolled on the Southern Motorway, just past the Orams Rd overbridge.
He suffered massive head injuries.
The van was being driven by Lovedeep’s 19-year-old cousin Tajinder Singh, who was on a restricted licence.
Six females were also onboard. The group's other men were at the kabadi competition waiting for them.
The van's owner, Sukhjit Kaur, who was a passenger, remembered Tajinder screaming,
"The car is going out of control". She looked up to see the van spinning and heading towards the barrier, which it struck after turning 180 degrees.
After removing her seatbelt and clambering from the van, she saw Lovedeep's motionless arm protruding from the side of the vehicle.
He had been sitting in the middle of the back seat.
Ms Kaur's 20-month-old daughter Gursharan Preet escaped the crash without a scratch.
Lovedeep's mother, Harjinder Kaur, 33, sat clinging to the side door, the New Zealand Herald reported.
She was taken to Middlemore Hospital's intensive care unit with brain damage and a badly injured arm and underwent four hours of surgery.
Four days later, her head injury has improved, but she has no control from the elbow down.
The young mother does not know her only child is dead. Doctors have told the family to wait until her condition improves before delivering the sad news.
"She keeps asking me, 'Where is Lovedeep, where is Lovedeep’?' said Mr Singh Lally, welling up with tears.
The crash came on the final day of a week-long Counties-Manukau police clampdown on seatbelt use, during which 1000 tickets were issued.
The road policing manager for the district, Inspector Heather Wells, said many fatal accidents occurred because people weren't restrained.
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