Mother kept 4am vigil at son’s grave after vandals trashed Waipā cemetery

Forty eight hours after Wendy Campbell buried her son she was back at his graveside at 4am to protect it from vandals who ravaged the Waipā cemetery.

Samuel Campbell, 23, was buried on Monday – just hours before a grass area, berms and a grave were torn up at the Hautapu Cemetery near Cambridge in the middle of the night.

A 19-year-old has been charged with intentional damage, along with sustained loss of traction in relation to a subsequent incident on a public road.

”It’s so painful and such a shame that the damage to the cemetery has cast a shadow on Samuel’s farewell,” Campbell said.

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“All his friends have been trying to find out, as they are very hurt, disappointed and furious, as are the rest of his family and the community”

Campbell said she heard lots of cars at 4am on Wednesday and rushed to the cemetery to make sure it wasn’t happening again.

“It hasn’t been a good feeling for us all. And we are really sorry for whoever did this, if this was somebody who knew Sam, that’s how it’s impacted the other people at the cemetery.

”It was certainly no one close to him, because they have too much respect for Sam and the tapu nature of the cemetery.”

The health worker said it made her second guess where she chose to bury him, because Samuel’s plans were to retire in Niue – where his father was from.

“I thought about whether he’d be cremated and taken back home to Niue.”]

After $3000 of damage was done at the cemetery, she considered moving her son’s grave.

“Sam was about wanting to help people, not to do anything like this or to upset anyone. Whoever did this, was going against anything that Sam would have wanted.

Campbell, who was visibly upset recounting the harrowing details, said she welcomed the arrest of a man, 19 who will appear in Hamilton District Court on Friday.

His car has also been impounded.

She said Samuels’ funeral service was “really lovely” and highlighted his passion for helping people – because he had struggled with mental illness himself.

“He found purpose and strength in using his mental health issues and experiences as a strength, not a weakness, so he could use it as a tool to help him help others,” she said.

Samuel had been completing a certificate in Health and Wellbeing at Wintec. His mother said he was looking forward to helping people with addiction and mental health issues.

“That was something he was really passionate about. And we found out he’d really been helping a lot of people.

“So many people came up and said how much he’d helped them. That was really heartwarming.”

She said this was supposed to be the beginning of that journey, not the end.

He was a supporter of the Zeitgeist Movement, and was worried about all the effects of inequality, Campbell said.

“He had so many hopes and dreams for his life, to improve himself and everyone else he could.

“He was the best parts of me and his father. And it’s just a shame because he had so many big plans.”

Red flags were raised when Samuel didn’t turn up to his course on Thursday last week, so Campbell went to his flat.

She found him dead.

“On Wednesday night, his heart gave out. His provisional report says acute cardiac failure.”

Campbell said he had been on medication for mental health issues.

“We had really high hopes, especially him, of it really helping him. But unfortunately it damaged his heart. He’s been on heart medication for over a year now.

“I am so proud of his kindness, compassion, bravery and enduring strength. Maybe he pushed himself too much, was too determined, and finally on a horrific day for all of us, his great, good physical heart gave out.”

Campbell said she wanted to thank the police and the people that gave information.