A grieving Auckland father has spoken publicly for the first time since the death of his five-month-old daughter, who died after her pram was struck by a van.
On October 5, baby Chloe's pram rolled down the driveway of her parents' rented Northcote home, landing in busy Lake Rd. The pram was hit by an oncoming vehicle, and Chloe later died in hospital.
Speaking to the NZ Herald, Chloe's father, Cameron Labone, had an important message for parents: check the brakes.
"We service our cars so we should check our prams," the 32-year-old told the paper.
Chloe's Stokke pram was second-hand with an on-and-off switch that was becoming more stubborn, he said.
"If we took two to three minutes to familiarise [ourselves with] how the brake works and maintained them with a squirt of CRC, that might have made the difference of Chloe still being here."
Recounting that fateful morning to the Herald, Labone said Chloe's mother, his partner Denise 'D' Zhu, had been groggy from a lack of sleep. As she headed out to take Chloe to her Plunket appointment, Zhu realised she'd left the baby's dummy behind and ducked back inside. Chloe was tucked into her bassinet, attached to the pram near the front door - where there is a one-degree drainage decline in the concrete.
"It took 20 seconds," Labone said. "It's a slight slope and so minor you wouldn't notice, but something moved the pram at the front door where we normally put her. The brake might have been on but it wasn't fully engaged and with Chloe getting heavier, she could've kicked something," he told the Herald.
Chloe's pram rolled down the driveway and was hit by the vehicle of Sudhir Saksena, a father-of-two who was on his way home to pick up some tools. The pram "came out of nowhere", Saksena said, and he slammed on the brakes - "but it was too late".
Saksena told the NZ Herald he was driving between roughly 20km/h and 30km/h prior to the collision. He now has trouble sleeping, plagued by the memory of what happened.
"This tragedy will affect me for the rest of my life," he said.
Labone told the paper he doesn't blame Saksena for Chloe's death.
Chloe's funeral service was held at the Rotary Grove Park in Northcote, where the family enjoyed going for walks together. Labone and Zhu are now considering sprinkling their daughter's ashes in Waipū, where they own land.
The couple has since purchased a new house and would like another child in the future.
