Eerie moment ex-wife realises motorcyclist dad will never come home
A motorbike rider who crashed and died on a rural road south of Brisbane at the weekend, had cheated death before, his grieving ex-wife and the mother of his two sons has revealed.
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A motorbike rider who crashed and died on a rural road south of Brisbane on the weekend, had cheated death before.
Father-of-two Daniel MacNellie, 39, died when his black Honda motorcycle crashed into a tree at North Maclean on Friday afternoon.
He had been to the Caltex service station on the corner of Greenbank Rd and Mr Lindesay Highway before getting back on his bike and heading along the remote road towards home at Flagstone.
His grieving ex-wife and mother of his two sons Melina MacNellie-Verrall, told of the eerie “deja vu” moment she and her two sons realised he would never come home.
“I had taken our two sons to his house and as soon as we got inside, I knew something was wrong and it was like deja vu when he had his previous motorbike accident and almost died,” Ms MacNellie-Verrall said.
“It was just like a re-enactment of the day in 2005 when he had crashed his bike on the family farm at Rathdowney and nearly died.
“Back then, I had a three-month-old baby and today I have a three-month-old baby.
“I knew he had cheated death before but my heart dropped when I saw one of the bikes was missing and we couldn’t get him on the phone.”
Mr MacNellie’s life was saved in 2005 when CareFlight flew him to hospital in Brisbane.
Last week, residents from Greenbank Rd worked hard to try to save him but he died at the scene just after 4.30pm.
Ms MacNellie-Verrall and her sons, Leighton, 15, and Damion, 13, had left the house to start ringing family when they got the call from Mr MacNellie’s sister, Petrina Scott.
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The couple, who had split in 2015 but shared custody of the two boys, last spoke via text just two hours before Mr MacNellie died.
“I often don’t have regrets but this time I really wished I had picked up the phone and called instead of texting,” she said.
“I have just started a new Remax real estate business and with a three-month-old baby, Daniel knew I was busy and so we just texted each other.
“I now want my two boys to grow up remembering that their father lived for them and loved his life.
“I don’t want them riding motorbikes — but that’s part of their way of life and just like their dad, they grew up on farms with motorbikes.”
Mr MacNellie’s funeral will be next week at the Harvest Point Church, in Walker Rd, Gleneagle, not far from where Mr MacNellie went to Beaudesert State High School.
Mr MacNellie will be buried in the same plot as his sister Rayna, who died in a car accident when she was 18.
The family would like donations to go to CareFlight, which Mrs MacNellie-Verrall said had given her ex-husband an extra 15 years to watch his sons grow up.
Mr MacNellie’s death brought the state’s road toll to 225 this year, compared with 189 at the same time last year.
A 25-year-old Upper Coomera man died on Thursday after a three-car crash at Logan Village when a grey Volkswagen Touareg was travelling south on Waterford-Tamborine Rd and clipped a black Suzuki Swift travelling in the opposite direction near Hotz Rd.
The Volkswagon collided head-on with a blue Mitsubishi Lancer, driven by the 25-year-old man who died at the scene.
The driver of the Volkswagon Touareg, a 24-year-old woman, was assessed for minor injuries at the scene along with the driver of the Suzuki Swift, a 51-year-old woman.
A 34-year-old Woodridge motorcyclist died on October 18 at Holmview when his motorcycle hit a 4WD on Castile Cres. The 29-year-old male driver from Holmview sustained minor injuries.
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