QUESTIONS still surround the death of Orange man Damien Mattick, following a motorcycle accident over the weekend.
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His body was found by police on Millthorpe Road around 12 hours after his bike was located.
While a coroner’s investigation into the circumstances of the accident in ongoing, Mr Mattick is being remembered by his family as a talented motorbike rider.
Mr Mattick went to school in Orange, and was working as a concreter when he died.
“He was such a live-wire and made an impact from the moment he was born, he did everything at 100 miles an hour,” his mum Michelle Perring said.
“At nine, we bought him a mini-bike and he stripped down the engine in the shed and asked for a new piston. He made a go-kart out of a whipper-snipper motor, he would tear up and down the street. He could do anything he put his mind to.
“It didn’t matter if you needed help, any time of the day or night, he’d give it.”
Ms Perring said to take his mind off family events, Mr Mattick went gold panning, finding and smelting gold flakes to create jewellery.
Mr Mattick loved motorbikes and would head off with his mates to ride on tracks and through bush land.
“The next door neighbours Helen and Glenn would take him riding, I’d just be there shaking and crying as he was off motorbike riding,” Ms Perring said.
She said she’d been overwhelmed by people offering their condolences.
“People I have no idea who they are, even friends I knew from school have expressed their condolences, it’s just been unbelievable what people have said,” she said.
Mr Mattick’s friend Joel Evans said you “couldn’t keep him off a bike”.
“He liked going fast and had the skill to go fast. He had the talent to ride bikes and would show up other riders who were better equipped and resourced,” Mr Evans said.
“He rebuilt an engine to go quicker only using his hands, he didn’t put any new parts into it and made the fairing for the bike because what he wanted wasn’t available.”
Mr Mattick’s sister Maddisen Branks said he was a talented rider.
“He would say my bike is half the size of everyone else’s, I’ll lap everyone on the track. I didn’t believe him, so he goes out on the track with a bike made of pieces, throwing this little bike around.”
He is survived by his children Jayda and Blair, as well as his siblings Daniel, Jacob and Maddisen.
Funeral details yet to be finalised.
Declan Rurenga
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
