Emergency services at the scene of the fatal crash in Wairoa. Photo \/ The River Independent Press – Wairoa<\/p>\n
Hendrix died and Mikaere and Matene were taken to Wairoa Hospital in a critical condition.<\/p>\n
Aroha was also badly injured, and Biddle says she is using a wheelchair while she physically heals.<\/p>\n
Biddle, a farm manager in Raupunga and a rugby and rural community leader, was in Tauranga at a conference at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n
In his first interview since the February 10 tragedy, Biddle said he had decided to give back to those who helped prevent a dark day from being even worse.<\/p>\n
Matene Biddle, 10, left, and Mikaere Biddle, 6, get a visit from Hawke’s Bay Magpies players as they recover in hospital. Photo \/ Country Kids<\/p>\n
He said he would be donating 20% of the money the Hawke\u2019s Bay community had raised for his family in the aftermath of the crash. <\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay Rescue Helicopter and Wairoa Fire Brigade would be the recipients, he said, and on top of the donation money, he would give $2000 out of his own pocket – $1000 to each.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to give back somewhere, and I started at the car accident, the people who were there that helped save the family when I couldn\u2019t be there,\u201d Biddle said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe helicopters were part of helping us fix some of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they weren\u2019t there, possibly both of the other two boys wouldn\u2019t have made it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Wairoa fire brigade, they were there, they are always out helping. I just thought I would help them as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the wh\u0101nau had been overwhelmed by the love of their community. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe community has been unreal, and the support has been massive, and it\u2019s made our job a lot easier, taking that pressure off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two weeks on, Biddle said Mikaere was recovering from a broken femur and a brain bleed, while Matene was now out of a coma and getting around in a wheelchair. <\/p>\n
The emotional tangi for baby Hendrix was held last Thursday. <\/p>\n
Biddle said the boys and their mum were in Hawke\u2019s Bay Hospital in Hastings recovering, with Aroha and Mikaere given a day pass to attend the tangi. <\/p>\n
Jordan Biddle said there had been an outreach of community support following baby Hendrix Biddle’s death. <\/p>\n
Biddle, who recently started a popular social media channel called Country Kids to document his family\u2019s outdoor adventures, said they had always been a wh\u0101nau that followed a hand-up, and not a hand-out, approach to life. <\/p>\n
He said the coming months would be challenging, but the plan was to use a three-phase response to try to heal from the tragedy. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen challenges come across the table, depending on how big they are, the easiest way to break them down is to break them into phases.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said they were now in the third phase of recovery, which he expected to be not the hardest but the longest, with some semblance of \u201cnormality\u201d at home likely still a few weeks away.<\/p>\n