A father of three was fatally crushed by his own car after stopping to change a tire on the side of a busy highway.
Tavis Carter, 33, was driving along the Geelong Ring Road in Highton, Geelong, on Friday morning when he stopped to change his tyre.
He is believed to have tried to grab a wheel nut that had been left under the car when it fell off the jack and crushed him.
Paramedics and police rushed to the scene but the 33-year-old man was unable to be saved.
Tributes have since poured in for Mr Carter, who worked for fibre wheel manufacturer Carbon Revolution.
Carter’s sister-in-law Stevie Thomas said he was extremely devoted to his wife Angene and their children, ages seven, eight and 17.
“He never went to the pub, it was all about his family,” she said. Geelong Advertiser.
Tavis Carter, 33, was driving on the Geelong Ring Road at Highton, Geelong, on Friday morning when he stopped to change his tyre. In a freak accident, his car fell off the jack and crushed him.
“They were her life. Many men would find it difficult to live up to Tavis.”
Mr. Carter’s mother, Una Carter, also shared an emotional tribute.
“We have lost a vital part of our hearts and life will be forever changed, not least by not having you in our lives, our magnificent Tavis,” she wrote.
‘We can’t wait to hug you and hold you once again.
‘We promise to take care of Ange and our grandchildren, but we will only be a sad consolation for the love and devotion that was shown to them for too short a time.’
His aunt Netti Morrison described him as “selfless and unconditionally loving.”
“In the early hours of Friday morning, a phone call would forever change the course of many lives,” he said.
‘Those words will be etched in my mind forever because it was the most devastating and unimaginable news I could ever expect.
‘I want to hit rewind and change everything that happened, I want to take away all the pain and loss and helplessness that everyone who loves you is feeling, I want to make it all better and fix the pain, but I can’t.
‘You are loved by so many people, Tavis, because you loved too and we are better for having had you in our lives.’
TO GoFundMe It was created to support Mr. Carter’s family and cover funeral expenses.
It has raised just under $6,000 at the time of publication.
Mr Carter leaves behind his wife Angene and three children aged seven, eight and 17.