An Auckland family say they're counting their blessings after escaping serious injury when an axe came flying through their car windscreen in an incident like something of a horror movie at Labour weekend.
Nishane Fernando, his partner Charmari Gonsal and their baby son Zion were returning to Dargaville in Northland on State Highway 12 on Sunday afternoon after spending the day at the Kai Iwi Lakes.
Seven Sharp aired pictures showing the axe left a chillingly accurate hole in the middle of the Subaru Forrester's windscreen.
The family escaped from the damage confused and upset.
"It was a shock. It's almost like a horror movie and that's the best words I can describe it," Mr Fernando said as the couple recounted the experience, safely back home in Auckland.
He said a vehicle was coming towards them in the opposite lane, "and I saw something fly out of that vehicle, or the right hand back end of that vehicle, and started coming, twisting and coming right at me".
"And that's when my eyes were just focused on that, and I couldn't react to it and do anything else. I initially thought it was a piece of stick. And it came and hit my windscreen."
When he saw it was an axe, he said, "The first instinct is, is someone trying to kill us? Yeah, that's what I felt."
Mr Fernando said it wasn't until the next day when he felt "a bit of pain and a bruise" that he realised the axe handle had hit his left arm.
Ms Gonsal had been reading a book in the front passenger seat and the axe hit her and the book.
"We are so lucky it wasn't the business end of the axe and it could have been a lot worse. We are really counting our blessings," Mr Fernando said.
Ms Gonsal added: "We just have minor cuts from shattered glass and things like that."
Little Zion was in his car seat in the back seat, and Ms Gonsal said the couple had to first calm themselves down before attending to him.
"And I tried washing my hands, I was a little bit bleeding, then quickly made a milk and tried to give it to him while he was still in the seat, without trying to pick him up, and tried to calm him down."
Later when they took Zion out of the seat after the police arrived, there was shattered glass in the car seat as well, Ms Gonsal said.
"He was wearing two layers, so lucky he didn't get any scratches."
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