It was not the way he was supposed to return home.
But after a massive fundraising effort, the body of Josiah Mani has been reunited with his family in Papua New Guinea.
The 24-year-old was one of two people killed in a fiery crash in Dunedin on July 4.
He was a member of the Kia Toa Tigers Sports Club, which rallied in the wake of the crash to help get his body home.
That happened in an emotional farewell at Dunedin Airport on Sunday, after $30,000 was raised to cover the cost, and the cost of his funeral.
Club manager Amy Fitzgerald said it had just hit them that they had actually done it.
"We’ve made miracles happen.
"We didn’t think we’d get him home.
"It feels amazing and yet so very sad, because that was our last attachment to him. He’s gone from us now."
They had been in close contact with Mr Mani’s family in Papua New Guinea, who were incredibly grateful for the effort to return him home.
"Their son’s coming home, which I know they’ll be happy about, but not the way that he should be coming home. So that’s really, really sad."
It was "pretty special" for the club to be able to help the family, Miss Fitzgerald said.
The Covid-19 border situation added an extra complication to getting him home.
"Some countries aren’t accepting freight, so he was lucky he was able to go home.
"He was looking down on us and he was on our side for that."
They were grateful to the team at Hope and Sons who navigated all of the red tape involved.
"It’s just absolutely unbelievable, what they have done."
The tragedy had a big impact on the team, she said, voice cracking with emotion.
"At the service, one of the boys spoke and said ‘this year in particular we were all pulling in different directions, and this tragedy has really pulled us closer together’.
"It’s an experience that, unless you’ve been through it, you’ll never know what it means."
