Brighton East crash: Father killed after motorcycle collides with SUV, mother pays tribute to ‘amazing’ dad
Updated ,first published
A father who shared a love of Arsenal Football Club with his seven-year-old son has been killed after a motorcycle collided with the family’s SUV on Sunday evening.
Ivan Harrison, 43, was driving his son, Henry in Brighton East about 6.30pm when the SUV they were in flipped after colliding with a motorcycle at the intersection of South Road and Olive Street.
Henry, who suffered an upper body injury, was pulled from the car by bystanders after he was found dangling upside down by his seatbelt, a witness told The Age. Harrison and the motorcyclist died at the scene.
Tania Benbow, Henry’s mother, said both she and Henry were traumatised and devastated by the loss of Harrison.
She said Harrison, who moved to Australia from the UK, was an “amazing, positive and social father who adored his son”.
Henry and his father shared a special bond through their passion for soccer and spent hours watching the FIFA World Cup together this year, Benbow said.
Henry had just been selected to play for a local football academy.
“It’s heartbreaking that his dad is now not there to practice with and watch him this upcoming season in the team,” she told The Age.
Benbow thanked the community for rallying behind her and Henry in the aftermath of the tragedy and urged other parents to take car safety seriously, even during short trips.
“If there is one message I want other parents to take from this tragedy, it is to always ensure your child is safely secured in an appropriate booster seat and to keep them in the back seat for as long as possible, even for the shortest trips. I truly believe this saved Henry’s life,” she said.
Pipe Vergara was driving home on Sunday evening when two motorcycles loudly accelerated past his window. Seconds later, a massive bang echoed through the street.
As he slowed down and stopped to help at the sight of a black SUV flipped over on the road, bystanders were already reaching in to rescue Henry, who was hanging upside down by his seatbelt inside.
“The little boy was taken out by a member of the public and given to two ladies who were looking after him. He was fine, but shocked, and calling for his mum,” Vergara said.
The double fatality tops a horror road toll for the Melbourne Cup long weekend so far, with nine people killed since Friday night, four of them riding motorcycles. Several others are in hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Vergara recalls that a second motorcycle carrying two people who had been travelling with the destroyed Honda circled back and arrived at the scene of devastation.
“Five seconds later, the other motorcycle came up with the other passenger. They took their helmets off and threw them to the floor and started screaming and yelling.”
“I moved a little bit closer and could see the body of the rider in a very bad condition, I saw the splash of blood everywhere.”
Locals have said the intersection of South Road and Olive Street was known for having dangerous turns.
Brenda Maloney, who saw the police cars down the road from her daughter’s block of units after the crash, said her daughter had avoided a collision at the same spot a week earlier.
“There’s a little gap there where you can do a U-turn, and it’s very dangerous there,” she said.
Horror long weekend on Victoria’s roads
The latest deaths cap off a horror Melbourne Cup weekend of nine fatalities on Victoria’s roads, with a public holiday still to come tomorrow.
On Friday afternoon, a 25-year-old died after his motorcycle collided with a car in Footscray.
The driver of the car was arrested and interviewed at the scene before being released.
Later that night, another motorcyclist died when he collided with a car in Healesville about 64km north-east of Melbourne’s CBD. The 21-year-old died at the scene.
An elderly woman died after she was hit by a car in the state’s south-west on Saturday afternoon.
The driver, a 52-year-old man, stopped at the scene and provided immediate assistance. He will be interviewed by detectives.
On Saturday night, a 26-year-old man was killed when his motorcycle lost control and crashed into a tree in the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Blairgowrie.
The motorcycle’s passenger was airlifted to hospital with critical injuries.
Police were called to another fatal car crash, north of Ballarat, at roughly the same time, after two cars collided just before 6.30pm.
A male driver died at the scene while his female passenger was seriously injured.
About an hour and a half later, a driver died in a separate incident after his ute crashed into a tree in Melbourne’s west.
An investigation into the incident in Werribee is ongoing.
Anyone who witnessed the crashes or with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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