A remote, close-knit community is in mourning after a beloved 24-year-old state motocross champion was killed in a workplace accident.
Jake Williams suffered serious head injuries early on Friday morning while working at the carpentry shop on Raglan St in the town of Roma, in central Queensland.
Emergency services attended the scene and found Mr Williams unconscious at around 1.50am.
Tragically, he died at the scene.
In 2016, Mr Williams took two victories in the Queensland Motocross Championship, winning the 250cc 15-year-old class and also the 125cc 13-15-year-old class at Hervey Bay in the south-east of the state.
The Motoonline.com website reported that ‘Mr. Williams He just dominated the whole weekend.’
Mr. William’s love of motocross is evident on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, where he posted many images and videos of himself racing around dirt tracks both for training and racing.
He had sponsorship from Yamaha, who provided him with motorcycles.
Jake Williams, 24, tragically died at the scene of an accident at his carpentry workplace in the central Queensland town of Roma.
Thomas Wilkinson, a resident of Rome, posted several stories on Facebook about Williams’ death with the caption “fly high bro.”
His friend Remi Kai wrote on Facebook that Mr Williams was “taken too soon”.
“A wonderful young man whose life was lost far too soon. You made everyone who knew you proud and achieved so much in your life,” Alanah Ladbrook also wrote.
Thomas Wilkinson said: “Fly high bro,” while Remi Kai wrote: “You took him too soon my dear friend.”
Mr Williams was a keen motocross rider and had won titles in his age group in Queensland.
Mr Williams was reported to have been seriously injured by a piece of machinery.
A Health and Safety at Work spokesman said they were investigating the tragedy.
‘Work Health and Safety Queensland (WHSQ) is investigating an incident which occurred in Roma… to determine whether the matter was work-related,’ he said.
‘The Queensland Police Service notified WHSQ of the incident and they were the first to respond to the incident.’
Police are also preparing a forensic report.