Reader’s Digest
84 february 2020
photo,previousspread:^ ©getty^ imagesseveral of the 14 sets of wheels. The
truck slammed into the rear of the car,
spinning it round like a child’s toy and
rupturing its fuel tank. Petrol sprayed
both vehicles, igniting them instantly.
Carried on by its massive momen-
tum, the trailer jackknifed, reared over
the kerb and toppled on top of the
wrecked car.
One second Gaylene was talking
to her daughter; the next, she was
whirling around in a vortex of crum-
pling metal. She sat stunned as flames
poured into the car and a single, terri-
ble thought rose in her mind. Shirley!
Where is she? Gaylene groped franti-
cally around in the darkness but the
passenger seat was empty. Thank God.
She’s made it out of here. An excruciat-
ing pain shot up her legs; her sneakers
and trackpants were on fire. Gaylene
struggled to open the buckled doors,
but they wouldn’t budge.
“Brian!” Marsh called on his two-way
radio to his shift-mate Brian Dixon in
another truck. “I’ve had an accident!
I’m on fire! Call emergency services!”
Marsh jumped down and ran aroundL
et’s go, Mum!” Shirley Young begged her mother. It was
Thursday, 9 August, 1990—late-night shopping at the
Manukau City Shopping Centre in South Auckland. One of
the highlights of the week for the 12-year-old Maori girl
was to spend a few hours at New Zealand’s biggest mall
with her aunt and cousin. Her mother Gaylene, a single
parent struggling to improve her job prospects, appreciated having
a few hours by herself to catch up on her studies.Gaylene drove the trio to the mall in
her sister’s white Cortina, stopping at
the kerb on busy Wiri Station Road
to drop them off. As Shirley headed
across the car park to join the throng
of shoppers she suddenly realized she
didn’t have her purse. “Wait Mum!”
she yelled, running back. “I forgot my
money.” Shirley opened the passenger
door and leaned in.
Further back along the busy road,
Buddy Marsh shifted gears on his
huge Scania tanker as he headed up
the rise. The 40-tonne truck and trailer
held more than 30,000 litres of petrol
destined for a service station in central
Auckland. A cautious driver, Marsh
kept well to the left of the two-lane
road but, as he neared the mall, a taxi
pulled out of the car park, blocking
his lane. Marsh swung his rig away. A
glance in his mirrors showed the trailer
just cleared the front of the taxi. Then,
as he looked ahead, Marsh gasped in
horror. Not 20 metres away, directly in
his path, was a stationary white car.
Marsh yanked on the steering wheel
and hit the air brakes, locking up