Runaway stroller tragedy: heartbroken dad: ‘I hate that driveway’

Every day Cameron Labone leaves the house, he relives the day his daughter died.

Five-month-old Chloe was hit by a van after her out-of-control stroller rolled down the driveway and into traffic on Lake Rd in Auckland’s Northcote.

“I hate that driveway,” says Cameron. “I can’t help but imagine what it was like for Chloe. There are only so many thought processes to see how she got to the end avoiding all the drains and potholes, but somehow, she got to the end. It’s not healthy to think about it, it doesn’t change anything. and it won’t bring her back. “

Cameron, 32, speaks publicly for the first time with a simple message for parents: check the brakes.

“Something horrendous happened that day. We want answers, but we should have taken an extra second to check the brake. It was a second-hand stroller with an on / off button that was easy to use but was getting more stubborn and difficult to operate. brake.

“If it takes between 2 and 3 minutes to familiarize ourselves [ourselves with] how the brake works and kept them on a jet of CRC that might have made the difference that Chloe was still here. We service our cars, so we should check our strollers. “

Chloe was Cameron’s bundle of joy, born after he and Denise “D” Zhu met online five years ago and instantly “clicked.”

“D is a property manager. She’s fun, smart, sporty, and smart. She enjoys business and commerce; we’re both quite competitive.”

His last memory before walking out the door on the day Chloe died was her sleeping peacefully next to her mother.

“My life was perfect. I had a lot of motivation to be the best father I could be to provide a good life for Denise and Chloe … There is a void in our lives now.”

Cameron says that Chloe was a “happy accident”, but the moment he saw her it was true love.

“Holding her was overwhelming and beautiful. Just hearing her breathe and grabbing my fingers was a great feeling.”

The couple is named Chloe Pang Zi, which means “fat” in Chinese.

“She was our lazy little girl, a laid back baby who ate well and slept well. She had soft possum fur hair, she was so chubby that she snuggled into me. Chloe was very popular, everyone liked to hug her and adored her.”

The morning before the tragedy, Denise woke up to a text message from Plunket reminding her of Chloe’s appointment. Cameron says Denise was “groggy and exhausted” from lack of sleep. Usually he would have gone with them, but he had started a new job and wanted to impress his boss.

“I wish I hadn’t gone to work that day. Poor D was so tired, she had just fed Chloe, which is her last memory. That closeness, minutes before the accident, has traumatized her.”

She says as Denise headed for the door, she realized she had left Chloe’s doll behind.

Chloe was safely tucked into her bassinet that was attached to the Stokke stroller near the front door.

“It took 20 seconds,” says Cameron.

Next to the front door of the couple’s rented home, there is a one-degree drainage decrease in the concrete.

“It’s a slight incline and so small you wouldn’t realize it, but something moved the stroller at the front door where we normally leave it. The brake could have been on but it wasn’t fully engaged and with Chloe getting heavier it could have. kicked something. “

‘It was bad for our families’

On October 5 at 8:52 am, two parenting worlds collided.

Sudhir Saksena, a carpet cleaning franchise owner, was heading home to grab some work tools when she saw a stroller roll down a steep road.

“It came out of nowhere. I didn’t see it coming, but I hit the brakes but it was too late.”

Sudhir estimates that he was driving between 20 and 30 km / h before the collision.

“It was a nightmare and I have trouble sleeping. I will never forget what happened, this tragedy will affect me for the rest of my life. It was bad for our two families. I have two children of my own and I don’t know what I would do if something happened to them.”

Sudhir sent a white orchid to Cameron and Denise after the accident. You are not prepared to meet them face to face.

“I don’t want to remind you of what happened,” he says.

Cameron says Chloe was still buckled up in her well padded bassinet when she was thrown out of the stroller.

“There was a full line of traffic because the bay bridge was being repaired. If Chloe had run into the side of a car with calm traffic it might not have been so bad. I think Chloe managed to pass between two cars, the The driver wouldn’t have had a chance to see anything. He wasn’t going fast, there were no skid marks and he stopped right there. “

Cameron doesn’t blame Sudhir for Chloe’s death.

“I want him to know it’s not his fault. A thousand things could have prevented it from happening, but nothing did. He didn’t see her. I’m sorry we brought sadness into his life.”

Ramila, Sudhir’s wife, is an operating room nurse at Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland. She was assigned to work that morning, but was sent home “immediately.”

On the way to Starship, Denise reassured Cameron over the phone: Chloe was breathing and had a steady heartbeat.

“I thought maybe it’s not that bad, maybe he had a little bump on the head, maybe it’s not the end of the world and he hung up.”

Chloe had no obvious injuries, but a lifeguard pulled Cameron aside and said, “Whatever happens next, you have to own it.”

“I thought ‘what is he saying?’ But he was being nice, preparing me for the worst. That was an hour before they told us that Chloe wouldn’t make it. We had no idea, we still thought it was a little hopeful.

“There was something wrong with her CT scan, the doctors came back to start preparing us. D realized that D brought Chloe back and told us she was no longer with us, [that] his brain probably failed upon impact. “

Self-recrimination is ongoing.

“We try not to play the blame game,” says Cameron.

“And we have had to overcome so many obstacles. D and I have been in great disagreement, we have been in different places at different times. Suppressing things and not communicating clearly has been a struggle.

“Staying together has been a struggle; everyone says they want us to stay together and so do we. There was a bit of guilt coming and going, but that’s where counseling has helped. When it comes to grief, it’s important to ask for help. one of the smartest things we ever did. “

Chloe never had her first birthday, but the funeral was a celebration of her short life. The service was held in Rotary Grove Park, where the family loved to walk.

“She was happier here. We didn’t have a backyard, the park was beautiful and safe. Chloe loved it there. We’re thinking of scattering her ashes in Waipū, where we own the land. The detectives gave us a beautiful kōwhai plant. which inspired us to plant a grove for Chloe. “

Cameron says she sees mostly “happiness and joy” when she sees babies, but Denise only sees loss.

“D was such a good mother. A happy, healthy baby doesn’t happen by accident. I won’t lie when I say it’s difficult when we see Chloe’s friends grow up without her.”

The couple have bought a new house and would like to have another baby.

“Chloe will always be there, but she will never grow old. Hopefully, we will have another baby and Chloe will be the older sister. She will always be a part of us.”