Wife of motocross rider Corey ‘Magoo’ Whittington shares heartbreak

The wife of a motocross rider killed in a freak accident has spoken of his love of racing, their fairytale tale romance and receiving the call any partner dreads.

The wife of a Gold Coast motocross rider killed in a freak racing accident has told of the heartbreak of losing her “bro” as she prepares to “give him one last ride home”.

Corey “Magoo” Whittington, 44, died in a competition at Elaman Creek on the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, shocking the tight knit moto community.

Speaking exclusively to The Courier-Mail, his wife Shannen opened up about Magoo’s love of motocross riding, their fairytale tale romance and receiving the phone call no partner wants to hear.

Corey "Magoo" Whittington with his wife Shannen. Picture: supplied

“I’m breaking, I’m lost,” she said.

“He was my best friend, my protector, he was everything to me.

“He swept me off my feet and showed me love like I’ve never known before.

“I’m still in shock waiting for him to walk through the door.”

While Mr Whittington was born on New Zealand’s north island, the two met working at a building company on the Gold Coast in 2015 and quickly became “partners in crime”, though it was only ever a figure of speech.

Corey Whittington remembered after motocross death on Sunshine Coast

“He had tattoos and rode a Harley and I was attracted to the bad boy image, but he was anything but,” she said.

She quickly discovered his passion for motocross riding – which even influenced their eventual wedding last year after almost a decade together.

“His racing number was 963, so we got married on the ninth of June, 2023,” she said.

“We were Team 963.”

He was Magoo to his mates, but to Shannen he was “my bro”.

“And I was his broette,” she said.

Corey "Magoo" Whittington with his wife Shannen. Picture: supplied

Sunday morning started like many race days, the alarm went off, they got up and Shannen watched as he wheeled his bike onto the back of his Ute.

It was the last time she saw him alive.

“We spoke on the phone a couple of hours later and we always finished our conversations saying ‘I love you’, and I would usually say ‘come home safe’, but I didn’t say that this time and I’m kicking myself,” she said.

Motocross is a notoriously dangerous pursuit and Shannen said she had asked him to give it away several times over the years, but never seriously because she knew how much he loved it.

Corey “Magoo” Whittington and his wife Shannen had been together for almost a decade before tying the knot last year. Picture: supplied

“He’d had so many accidents over the years he was held together with metal plates, so (when the phone rang on Sunday) I just thought he had done something or broken something,” she said.

“But his friend Liam (who made the call) started crying and I started screaming.

“I’ve got his bike back at home now and it’s sitting in the garage and apart from some dirt and mud it’s completely intact.

“It blows my mind.”

Corey "Magoo" Whittington raced with the number 963 and even used it as inspiration for his wedding date. Picture: supplied

It’s understood riders in front of Mr Whittington on the racetrack collided and he clipped another bike and crashed with neck and spine injuries which would prove fatal.

Best mate Chad Henderson, who runs the Chaddies Patties burger joint where Mr Whittington was a part of the furniture, said he was still coming to terms with the tragedy.

“It doesn’t feel real,” he said.

He was such a big part of the community, he was the life of the party and he was loyal to the soil to his friends.”

The couple with their pocket bulldogs Toa and Tui. Picture: supplied

A GoFundMe campaign organised by friends of the family has so far raised more than $20,000 to help with funeral costs so Shannen can give him “the best send-off ever”.

“I want to give him one last ride home,” she said.

“He would be loving the fact that he is being mentioned everywhere.

“He loved the spotlight.”

A funeral and celebration of Mr Whittington’s life will be held at Melaleuca Station in the Tweed Valley on Tuesday starting at 11am

https://www.gofundme.com/f/corey-magoo-whittington

Mr Whittington is the second Gold Coast motocrosss rider to die this year, following the death of legend Jayden “Jayo” Archer in a training accident in February.

Partner’s heartbreaking words after death of motocross cult hero