Nurse performed CPR on dying victim at chaotic scene of quadruple-fatal crash on State Highway 8, Pukaki

A nurse who helped perform CPR on a victim of the horror crash in Pukaki on Saturday that has claimed four lives said the incident broke her heart.

Bellee Cardeño was travelling from Wānaka with her parents on the day of the three-vehicle crash, which happened on State Highway 8 near Lake Pukaki.

“I saw a queue of cars on the road, and I immediately thought there had been a crash,” she told the Herald.

She then spotted the wheels of a rolled car and told her father to pull over so she could help.

Cardeño, who is a nurse from the Philippines and is studying her masters to become a nurse in New Zealand, ran to the scene, passing five cars in the queue ahead of hers.

She described the crash scene as “chaotic”.

She saw people sitting on the roadside bloodied and injured as others tried to comfort and reassure them, while elsewhere rescuers were checking for victims inside vehicles.

“A couple of men were helping an elderly individual out of a car in a wheelchair. I then noticed that the cars were smoking, so I told the injured ones who could walk to move away from the cars.”

Some people were unable to move though, she said.

“I helped shield the ladies from the sun shining on their faces and tried to reassure the woman who was lying down that help was on its way.”

She said a man began performing CPR on one of the victims, and she volunteered to take over, alternating with another person until police arrived and took over.

The person could not be saved.

After making sure she had done what she could at the scene, Cardeño left, as she was travelling with her family to hospital for an unrelated reason.

She thought they arrived on the scene of the crash about five minutes after it happened.

“It’s making me sick thinking about the ‘what ifs’, like what if we didn’t stop in Omarama to have our tyre pressure checked because one of our tyres was low on pressure at the time. It could’ve been us,” she said.

“Having low tyre pressure that time was also a blessing in disguise. But then, it really breaks my heart that several people died in that horrific accident.”

Cardeño was thankful for the people at the scene who were trying to help, particularly two men who were leading the rescue attempts before emergency services arrived.

“It takes a lot of courage to be there and compose yourself to help the people covered in blood. I never really imagined myself doing CPR on someone on the road. It was my first time helping people on the road,” she said.

“As part of my career, I’m expecting the worst at the workplace but not on the road.”

She said she was “truly sorry” for the people who had lost loved ones in the crash.

“It was just a tragic accident,” she said.

She had trouble sleeping that night and could “still vividly remember the scene”, but was thankful for friends who helped her “debrief” afterwards.

The crash happened about 1.30pm on Saturday, closing the road between Tekapo and Twizel. Three people died initially, and a fourth has died overnight in hospital.

Less than two hours after the crash, another three-vehicle crash happened on the same stretch of road. Nobody was killed in the second crash.

Two of the deceased from the first crash have been identified as Malaysian students who had been studying at the University of Canterbury.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim shared his condolences to the families of the two students on Facebook yesterday.

“Condolences to the families of two Malaysian students who died in a road accident in Lake Tekapo, New Zealand,” he posted.

“I also pray for the three more Malaysian students who were injured in this incident to be healed as soon as possible.”

Across the country, seven people have died over the Easter holiday, with many more seriously injured.

“Seven people have lost their lives and several others are seriously injured. That’s seven families that will never see their loved ones again, seven Easters ruined and seven avoidable deaths,” said Road Policing Director Superintendent Steve Greally.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.