A doctor has given a heartbreaking account of the last time she saw her mum and three-year-old daughter before they were killed in a New Zealand car crash.

Lini Eades, 32, spoke to the Hounslow and Brentford Times as the family prepare to mark six months since the accident in which little Iva Harper, her grandmother Sera Eades, 60, and relative Valerie Bryan, 68, all died.

Ms Eades, of Amwell House, the Woodlands, Isleworth, said she and her partner Jeff Harper, 33, an engineer for Mercedes Benz, in Brentford, took excited Iva to play on the swings in Redlees Park before helping her pack for the fateful holiday with her grandparents.

She said: “At the airport we had some time together sitting and laughing and playing with Iva. Then when it was time for them to go through customs we hugged and said our goodbyes.

“Mum squeezed me so tightly and told me she loved me. Jeff and I each held onto Iva for ages hugging and kissing her and telling her we loved her very much. Mum, dad, Val and Iva then went through the gates waving, smiling and blowing kisses.”

Just two days later, Iva’s grandfather Geoff Eades fell asleep at the wheel in Christchurch and their car smashed into a power cable pole.

Devastated Mr Eades, 62, was the sole survivor of the September 16 crash that killed his wife, granddaugter and cousin.

His daughter, a doctor at a hospital in Sidcup, Kent, said the tragedy had only begun to sink in during “the last few weeks” as they had been busy with the funeral, memorial service and sorting her parent’s flat in Amwell House, where they moved to from New Zealand in 2008.

She said: “We continue to be totally overwhelmed by the support we’ve had from everyone around us. People have been so thoughtful in finding ways to make things a bit easier for us.

“Just knowing people are thinking of you is somehow a huge comfort.”

Ms Eades thanked friends, neighbours and colleagues for their kindness, adding: “We also feel so grateful that Iva and mum were so welcomed into the community that they were able to share such happy times here in Isleworth.

“They both had such a powerful and infectious love of life that it’s impossible not to be reminded of them and their laughter everywhere you look. Just being in Amwell and around Isleworth makes us feel close to the light they gave out.”

Something to focus on

Iva Harper’s parents will run the Brighton Marathon in memory of their little daughter and her grandmother.

Lini Eades, 32, her partner Jeff Harper, 33, and six of their friends will take part in the 26 mile run on April 18 in aid of charity Children of Fiji.

Ms Eades said: “Training for it is again giving us something positive to focus on. As we’re learning to live with the pain of losing them, it feels good to be driven by their memory to live life to the full, just as they always did.”

The couple have also been looking at options for a permanent memorial in Isleworth.

Ms Eades said their house was full of photos of the inseparable pair, along with Iva’s paintings and pictures, including many she did at St John’s pre-school.

She said her dad Geoff, 62, had decided to stay in New Zealand, but she and her partner “wouldn’t want to be anywhere else” than their home in Isleworth.

She said: “This is where Iva grew up and where mum spent some of the happiest time of her life.”