This was published 8 years ago
'Gregarious, fun-loving' Austin Desi, 35, dies in paragliding crash
By Kim Stephens
The grieving, heavily pregnant wife of a paraglider who plunged to his death north west of Brisbane on Sunday has paid tribute to "our beautiful, loving, dedicated and extremely adoring father and husband."
Austin Desi went out to indulge in what friends describe as "one of the great loves of his life" on Sunday and never came home.
Clontarf auto-electrician Austin Desi, 35, plunged to his death in a paragliding accident on Sunday.Credit: Facebook
The 35-year-old suffered severe head injuries when he fell from his glider to the ground at the privately owned Archer Falls airstrip, about 13 kilometres west of Woodford, about 10am Sunday.
He died at the scene.
Austin and Janette Desi with their daughter Evelyn. Mrs Desi is full-term with the couple's second child, a boy.
The self-employed auto-electrician left behind wife Janette, who is nine months pregnant with the couple's second son, and their three-year-old daughter Evelyn.
In a moving Facebook post, Mrs Desi paid tribute to her husband.
"Everyone loved Austin. He had so much energy, spirit and so much love," Mrs Desi wrote in a Facebook post.
"As many may know, I am also pregnant to full-term. Austin was going for one flight and coming straight home in case our son was born over the weekend. I have some beautiful support to get me through this without him, but it isn't going to be easy, especially in the coming months."
Friends and neighbours of Mrs Desi have rallied behind the American-born woman and her daughter, establishing an online fundraiser to cover Mr Desi's funeral expenses.
Neighbour Samantha Jockel described Mr Desi as, "a fun loving, gregarious, really happy outdoorsy kind of guy, who loved having fun outdoors with family and friends."
Mrs Jockel said while still dealing with her grief, Mrs Desi had more tough times ahead.
"She's staring down the barrel of having a second child, she's lost her husband who earns the income and I just thought, because her family do live overseas, lots of people can't come because its a long way, so they might be able to contribute to the funeral," Mrs Jockel said.
"The funeral is planned for next week but obviously because the baby is due, we are dealing with it a day at a time."
The page, established on Monday, smashed its fundraising target of $5000 in less than 12 hours.
Mrs Jockel said her friend was comforted that her husband died indulging in "one of the great loves of his life".
"He had been doing it for a while, she felt like him to die in this way was the ultimate way for him to go, because he was doing what he loved doing," she said.
A memorial service has been tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 27.
In the meantime, Mrs Desi has also had the heartbreaking task of explaining to three-year-old Evelyn that her daddy is not coming home.
"Evelyn knows that her daddy is flying. She knows he is blowing and stopping the wind. And while he flies, he is painting the clouds up in the sky. Sometimes they're smooth and sometimes he blows bubbles. We blow kisses up at the sky and say hello," Mrs Desi wrote.
To donate to the Desi family, go to mycause.com.au/page/126802/support-for-janette-and-the-kids