Rider down - Silverdale on ramp (21 September)

[Holley]

Hi, my name is Holley.

I am Alex's big sister. I am 25, Alex has a younger brother Fraser whos 18, and a little sister Dayna who is 16.
Our whole family is torn apart by this, my mother and father are broken.
we all loved Alex so so dearly and still cant believe that this can really be happening.
He was the most fun person to be around, and was nothing but a barrel of laughs at all times.

I would like to thank Alex's Boss on behalf of our family for his very kind words. Alex loved his job.

And thankyou to Harley for allthough his words were hard to read, on some part it helps us to understand and hopefully take some closure from it.


I love you Alex, and we will never ever forget you.

[paddy]

Hi folks, please excuse the double post; however, I believe the situation warrants some "rule bending". I have just created a new thread starting with the following message:

-----

Hi Guys,

I have asked Anika to provide me with her bank account details so that WE can assist her in the most practical way that we can (given that we don't know her) - that is financially. I know from this thread and my email correspondence that she is only 19 and that she has an 8 month old son, Conner. I know that they certainly hadn't planned for such a loss.

I am putty out the call to all those abound in the Kiwibiker community. I would like to think that as a group we could pull together at least $1000. There are after all slightly over 1000 members. If, as a community, we can't do that then why are we bothering.

I know that there are accidents all of the time and I wouldn't always take this approach. I certainly don't want to minimise anyone else's suffering or pain. But I am touched by the young age of Alex, Anika, and Conner. I hope that we can take this opportunity for our assistance to go beyond condolences and moral support.

If people want to PM me, then as soon as I receive her bank details I will pass them on. Alternatively, you can get money directly to me and I will pass it on to her (I live in Whangaparaoa, I believe she is in that vicinity somewhere).

I'm going to launch this off in a separate thread so that it is more obvious. This can be found here:

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...p?p=1129420326


Patrick


As I was writing this post - Anika has responded. I am not going to post her account number here (PM me instead) - I know in theory that is fairly safe but I don't want to be the one that tempts fate. I did however want to post the rest of her email:

"Hi, my account number is XX. alex would be happy
to know there are people who care about his son. he was a really good
person and I believe he would have done the same for other
people.thank you so much" -- Anika

[harleyc]

Hi Anika,
It is with a tear in my eye and a choked-up feeling in my chest that I write this.

I have been thinking about why he hit the curb since Monday and have these ideas:
1. Low light level, the road and the roundabout are similar shades and at that time of morning may have been hard to see, also, it is quite a low curb and looking through a visor is not as easy as looking through a windscreen.
2. This one makes me feel awful… He may have been distracted at seeing me and increased speed to try and avoid me knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time.
3. His speed coming into the roundabout may have caused him to go wide on the outside corner. I have come through that roundabout many times from his direction and have almost been caught out myself, it’s quite a tight bend, especially approaching it at 80kph.

Alex’s bike would have had the accelerator on the handle bar, his right hand would grip it. From my experience, when you’re out of control of your bike and you’re hanging on to your handle bars it is very difficult if not impossible to control the throttle because you can’t let go and when your momentum is forward it’s difficult to twist it back to release it. Also, because he was off his seat he couldn’t get his feet to the foot pegs, his right foot would control the rear brake, the front brake is at his right hand which, once again, would be difficult to get to.

Alex was doing everything he could to regain control – there just wasn’t enough room…

Since writing this there has been some more postings, and I realize some of your questions have been answered already.

I hope this helps you all in some way.

Mine, my family and my friend’s thoughts are with you all Anika, Connor, Holley, Fraser, Dayna, Mum and Dad.

[Katman]

2. This one makes me feel awful… He may have been distracted at seeing me and increased speed to try and avoid me knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time.

There's nothing here for you to be beating yourself up over.

[Mully]

For what it's worth - condolences to family and friends. RIP Alex.

There but for the grace of God go us.

Ride safe everyone.

[MyGSXF:Me]

This is so so sad to read.. my heartfelt condolences to all family & friends..

R.I.P Alex

[hobbitt]

I send my condolances to his wife and baby, may they get strong support from family and friends. Life can be very unfair at times. I send raftn my sincere and heartfelt wishes that you are comforted by someone too.

[PrincessBandit]

There's nothing here for you to be beating yourself up over.

This is so true. Hard as it may seem, instead know that your presence made a big difference to his family, knowing that you did your best to assist.

You could drive yourself crazy wondering if anything you did or didnt' do might have changed circumstances. Don't go there.

[chef]

R.I.P alex, condolances to his family

[Mrmonster]

Hi HarleyC, Holley and Anika,

My name is Murray but everyone calls me Muzza. Anika, in most respects, would know me as uncle Muzza as I am the partner of her aunty. I too ride a motor bike rain, hail or shine. I too know that Alex had a new lease on life when Connor was born. I know this because I witnessed it. I am greiving my ar$e off like the rest of our family and have now suffered two sleepless nights and steering down the barrel of another one, but when I took Anika's little sister back home on Tuesday morning and I could hear the pain she was suffering I know there is no worse pain than what Anika is going through at the moment. You know Car, Saphron, Jazzmyn and I love you Anika and we'll be here for you and Connor.
Holley, I spoke to your mum today to do my best to understand a bit more about your family. You had a great brother, but when Connor was born he blew us all away. Alex had a spark for life that I wish I could recapture in myself. Besides that, he was sooooo good to Anika in soooo many ways. Condolonces to you and your family. No doubt we'll meet on Saturday.
HarleyC. Thanks for assisting on Monday morning and thank you so much for explaining your interpretation of the chain reaction that means we are now a critical family member down. This has been helpful to me and when Anika has mourned and wants to know more I'll describe things in doses she can handle. I know she'll be many years getting over this if she gets over it at all. I beleive the police report is complete and I will do my best to get a copy of that and the coroners report to assist Anika understand better. I often travel to Whangaparaoa and surrounding areas and would love to call in, have a beer and thank you personally on behalf of the family if you were up to that.
For the kind wishes from everyone that has posted on KB, you have kept my faith alive that people that ride bikes are very much like a brother hood. Your offers of empathy, sympathy and financial support are nothing short of spectacular. Each and everyone of you have gone some way to assisting me get through the minutes and hours that make up the day and I'm sure you've done that for Anika too. Please let your thoughts remain with Anika and Connor.
RIP Alex you will be missed....forever.

[ManDownUnder]

Hi, my name is Holley. I am Alex's big sister.

Holley,

Can I suggest you or someone in your family set up a bank account that does not have Anika's name on it. My fear is that money collected will be viewed as an asset by the various agencies who will then minimise the amount of benefit paid to her... right that the very time she needs it most.

Set up an account in your name, or your Mum's name... and have all money go into there. So it's not legally hers, although I'm sure you could find some way of making sure she benefits from it.

I've handled something very similar in the past so if you need to, please contact me so I can let you know what I found and did.

I love you Alex, and we will never ever forget you.

I left that here out of respect.

[alexm]

than you for pointing that out. I will check in wtih my family on this matter as trust them with my life, and in the end if will be used to go to Alex's son, Connor. Thank you for pointing that out I will immediately transfer my savings into a family account where they wil keep it safe until I need it

[alexm]

but until then donations go into my usual account, I will pas onto my grandfather who will not touch the money unless I tell him I need some for Connor. cheers for that idea

[madbikeboy]

2. This one makes me feel awful… He may have been distracted at seeing me and increased speed to try and avoid me knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop in time.

Respectfully - don't do this to yourself. Conditions, age, experience, light, weather.

[Edbear]

I commute from Orewa daily by bike also and my heart goes out to all affected by this tragedy.

There have been beautiful words expressed here and I can't add more than has been said. Sincere condolences.