Adi Veniana Nasova was still visibly emotional yesterday.
There was a heaviness about her, a quiet sadness she could not hide.
She remained numb with shock after losing her only son in a tragic accident on Wednesday, when the truck he was driving plunged into a river in the early hours of the morning.
The news tugged at her heartstrings. It overwhelmed her. And even yesterday, the grief still sat heavily on her shoulders.
At her home in Toge Village in Ba, the 61-year-old recalled how her son, Mikaele Tora, 38, had promised his young daughters he would be home by around 9pm. But he never made it. Her husband, Mikaele’s father, received a call close to midnight informing them that the truck had fallen into the Nacaci River near Toge.
“We did not know whether he was dead or alive until a police officer from Nanukuloa, Ba, called us and told us he had died,” she said quietly.
“I did not want to believe it was him because he left home telling us he was just going to town.”
She remembered his final call. “Around 4pm on Tuesday he called to tell me that he would be coming to take the goats.”
Tora had been driving a carrier, transporting passengers to Saunokonoko in Ba. “The last time he spoke to his wife was on Tuesday afternoon, when he told her he would be taking passengers to Saunokonoko.”
Adi Veniana described him as an obedient, hardworking man who would be sorely missed by the young men of Toge. “He would invite them home for tea and bread. Now that he is no longer around, they have stopped playing touch rugby.” Those who knew him, she said, would remember him for his constant smile and warm greetings. She said a group of fishermen near the site retrieved his body from the river and transported him to the Aspen
Medical Ba-managed hospital.
Tora, who will be buried next Wednesday, leaves behind his wife and two daughters.
As police investigations continue, we are once again forced to confront the ongoing issue of road safety. We do this every year. We run campaigns, host awareness drives, and discuss challenges. We talk about defensive driving, responsible behaviour behind the wheel, and the need for vigilance from every road user across the country. Yet every year, accidents continue to happen. And every year, lives are lost.
It is painful because despite our efforts, despite the messages and reminders, we continue to lose loved ones in circumstances that could often be prevented.
And in the end, it is the small, human details that cut the deepest. The familiar routines, the unspoken bonds, the simple moments of life shared between families and friends. When a life is lost, a gap appears, one that cannot be filled.
People are left hurting.
Families mourn.
Survivours cling to memories, the things their loved one used to say, the way they smiled, their habits, their favourite foods, the sound of their laughter.
These memories return in sudden waves, reopening wounds and reminding them of the magnitude of their loss.
This is why vigilance on our roads is a human responsibility. It is a commitment to valuing life, our own and the lives of others.
If we choose to be careful, attentive, and considerate, we can save lives. We can spare families from heartbreak.
Let us love one another enough to do the right thing. Road safety is a shared duty. We should honour those we have lost by ensuring we do not lose more!
