‘Incalculable loss’
At around 8.55am on March 11, a car mounted the kerb and hit Sarah Clark and her 14-year-old daughter, Hannah Clark, who were sitting outside the William Souter Espresso cafe in Auckland’s Forrest Hill.
The family’s puppy, Cosmo, was also injured in the incident.
In a Givealittle post, Lisa Clark wrote about the grief the family experienced after the sudden loss of their “beautiful Sarah”.
She said the loss to Cameron and her two children, Hannah and 13-year-old Max Clark, would be felt every day for the rest of their lives.
“We don’t know how we’ll ever bear our loss. But at the same time, we are grateful for everything she poured into our lives every day that she was with us, and we know that her love, especially for her darling kids, will be with us always,” Lisa said.
She said that while nothing can ever replace the void Sarah left, they wanted to do whatever they could to honour her legacy and give her kids all the opportunities she would have wanted for them.
Sarah Clark died after a car crashed into an Auckland cafe in Forrest Hill on March 11.
Sarah’s legacy
Lisa said that although Sarah had left them far too soon, her legacy of serving and advocating for others would live on.
“She was the embodiment of care in action, of love with hands and feet,” Lisa said.
While tidying up some of Sarah’s things after the funeral, Cameron said he came across some of her journals.
In 2011, she wrote: “I have always valued community, but had tended to be more on the ‘being there for’ and ‘helping others’ side, rather than ‘being vulnerable’ and ‘accepting help from others’.
“But community is a two-way street, and just as much as there are seasons when we need to be there for others, there are also seasons where we need to let others be there for us and help carry our burdens … Not only do we celebrate together, but we mourn together too,” Sarah wrote.
Sarah Clark “was the embodiment of care in action, of love with hands and feet”, Lisa Clark said. Photo / Givealittle
Cameron said in 2018, after he attended a special “Weekend To Remember” with Sarah, where they focused on their relationship and thought about the future, Sarah’s journal featured the question “What kind of legacy do I want to leave?” as one of her main reflections.
Cameron said on their wedding day, Sarah’s brother David told him that he was the luckiest man in the world, to which he simply responded “I know”.
Sarah Clark and sister Lisa Clark.
Sarah trained as an engineer and enjoyed running large-scale projects at big companies for a number of years.
Lisa said Sarah’s “true passion” was for people and making things better for them.
Around seven years ago, she gave up the corporate life to turn to community work, where she was involved with Christians Against Poverty and assisted people struggling with hardship and debt.
She later managed the Lifecare Trust at the Windsor Park Baptist Church.
Sarah Clark was active at the Windsor Park Baptist Church. Photo / Windsor Park Baptist Church
Clark remembered by community for her ‘genuine care’
Clark has previously been identified by the Windsor Park Baptist Church in a tribute where she was remembered as a “dear colleague and friend”.
Windsor Park Baptist Church lead pastor Grant Harris said the outpouring of grief from the community reflected the giving, kind and compassionate person she was.
“I think in her honour, we will do everything that we can to be Sarah back to her family and to her circles as well,” he said.
Lisa said community and people helping each other were so important to Sarah.
“We are so grateful for the way Sarah’s community has rallied around her family now that she is no longer with us,” she said.
Lisa said even people who didn’t know her personally felt drawn to attend her funeral or the remembrance evening held at Windsor Park Baptist Church the night after her accident.
“She was simply that kind of person,” she said.
Sarah Clark’s sister Lisa Clark said her “true passion” was for people and making things better for them.
Lisa said Sarah’s daughter, Hannah, who received damage to her teeth in the incident, has since had remedial dental work completed.
“A missing tooth that was knocked out was found the day after the accident, and amazingly was able to be sterilised and reinserted,” Lisa said.
She said the puppy Cosmo has had what is hopefully his final surgical procedure to fix his hip, which was dislocated in the accident.
The funds raised on Givealittle will be used to support the family with living costs and the children’s future.
At the time of the car accident, the police said the crash was “an isolated incident” and there was “nothing to indicate it’s suspicious”.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.