Karam Haddad

2022 - 9 - 14

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Image courtesy of "New Zealand Herald"

Waikato crash: Ōtorohanga businessman Karam Haddad dies in ... (New Zealand Herald)

A small Waikato town identity has died in a serious accident near Otorohanga. Ōtorohanga locals were shocked to hear of the death of Karam Haddad - one half ...

They too were taken to Waikato Hospital and are in a stable condition. "They would have to be the top salesmen of the century, they were really neat when you went in-store, such a tragic loss. Chief executive of the Waikato Chamber of Commerce Don Good called the stretch of road between Hickey Rd, where the crash happened, and Piarere a "death trap" that had claimed "an unacceptable number of lives". The driver of the Audi died at the scene of the crash and the St John ambulance driver later died in Waikato Hospital. Ohs said the St John team were "devastated" and "grieving the loss of one of our own". You will be sadly missed our friend."

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Image courtesy of "Stuff.co.nz"

Ōtorohanga icon, retailer Karam Haddad, killed in crash (Stuff.co.nz)

Ōtorohanga District Mayor Max Baxter has posted that Karam Haddad was killed in a crash on Wednesday. Police said one person died following an accident on State ...

“As I reminisced I kept recalling Karam pointing his finger at me in the Haddads shop and repeating – several times I add, ‘Don’t ever forget the plush Davey, the reason we love selling Swazi is the plush’. One of life’s few gentlemen has gone and he leaves a huge space behind,” an online tribute from Swazi founder Davey Hughes said. When I heard the news last night it sat me down hard. You were a bloody legend my friend.” Big things are happening in the mighty Waikato, and you need to know about them. [A town legend and icon](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/70698461/otorohanga-clocks-up-highest-life-expectancy-for-waikato)... Others remembered purchases wrapped in brown paper and said they always stopped into the shop to say hi, with one adding “It’s gonna be hard to imagine what life would be like from now on without Karam behind the counter at Haddads”. “We have been trying to find the words to commemorate Mr Karam Haddad but nothing seems quite right. [The Haddads own a menswear store](https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/life-style/8408363/World-of-mouth-The-Traders) in the town and have outfitted generations of residents, cutting a dashing figure about town with their trademark hats. And Karam was seen as “a bloody legend” by the founder of outdoor clothing brand Swazi, who said the brothers had sold their product since the very beginning. The small Waikato town of Ōtorohanga is mourning one of its best-known residents, who has been described as an icon and “one of life’s few gentlemen”. Baxter wrote “Karam and brother John are icons of Ōtorohanga and New Zealand”.

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