A father of six who died in a skydiving accident helped save the lives of at least four other people by donating his organs.
Roger Goltz, a computer technician from Jervis Bay on the New South Wales south coast, died on August 17, leaving behind his wife Kelly and six children aged between 14 and 25.
Mr Goltz was an experienced skydiver and had completed around 80 jumps before the freak accident.
While his parachute opened perfectly, Mr Goltz is understood to have turned too low and too fast due to the wind, leaving him at the wrong angle to land.
Mr Goltz suffered a catastrophic brain injury following the impact. He was placed on a respirator at the scene of the accident before being taken to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Now his grieving wife has revealed Mr Goltz’s final act of kindness following his death.
“As I and the six children navigate this next stage of this journey, I wanted to say how wonderful it was to know that Roger was able to be a part of bringing joy to four families,” Ms. Goltz wrote on social media.
She said she had a conversation with her husband before his death about his wishes to donate organs, but wanted to see what her children thought.
His grieving wife Kelly has revealed Mr Goltz’s final act of kindness following his death.
“It was comforting to know that I knew their thoughts on the matter and then to hear all six children vote yes as I wanted to leave the decision in their hands,” she wrote.
“It was hard and brought tears to my eyes, but receiving a phone call yesterday saying that four lives had potentially been changed forever and for the better made the day better for my six children, who have so far been suffering through the worst days of their lives.”
Mrs. Goltz revealed that her husband’s organs were donated to a child and a man who needed a kidney transplant.
He encouraged others to talk about organ donation with their loved ones.
“It’s much easier if something like this happens… all the children hope that whoever takes on the role of their father will go on adventures and find a new love in life,” he added.
Ms Goltz, whose four of her six children live at home, previously told Daily Mail Australia she was worried she would not be able to keep her home as skydiving was not covered by her life insurance.
Roger Goltz (pictured), a computer technician from Jervis Bay on the New South Wales south coast, died on August 17, leaving behind his wife Kelly and six children aged between 14 and 25.
Mr Goltz is an experienced skydiver and had completed about 80 jumps, many of them with his teenage son, before Saturday’s accident.
TO GoFundMe A page has been set up to help support his family, who say they have been left with an “irreplaceable void in our hearts”.
“Roger was always looking for the next adventure and he loved his children, I guess he was one of them,” Ms. Goltz said.
‘The children are devastated and wonder if he was hurt or scared and what that means for the two girls and who will walk them down the aisle.
‘They just lost their best friend.
“All you had to do was imagine it and he would make it happen.”
Mr. Goltz (far right) had gone on several skydives with his teenage son Kai.
Ms Goltz said a fellow skydiver with 40 years’ experience told her he had seen similar flips go wrong in the air, but never one that cost a life.
He is now waiting for the coroner’s report to try to understand what went wrong.
Skydive Oz in Moruya confirmed that Roger’s parachute opened and functioned as intended.
Chief instructor Paul Smith, who was at the launch area when the incident occurred, said safety is always his top priority.
“At Skydive Oz, we do everything we can to make it as safe as possible for all of our members, regardless of their experience level, and the close-knit skydiving community here is devastated by what has occurred,” he said in a statement.
“We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and emergency services personnel who provided first aid and arranged for him to be flown by helicopter to Canberra.”
Australian Skydiving Federation chief executive Stephen Porter said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
“Our thoughts are with the man’s family and everyone involved in this tragic time,” he said.
‘A training officer arrived at the scene at Moruya Heads on Saturday evening to begin a thorough investigation into the cause of the incident.’
A memorial service for Mr. Goltz will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Plantation Point, Vincentia, followed by a gathering at the Huskisson Community Center at 12:30 p.m.
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