Harry Afualo, 18, dies after motorcycle accident at Lurnea

Tributes are pouring in for ‘gentle giant’ who family and friends remember as a soft-spoken young man whose life was cut short after a motorbike accident in southwest Sydney.

Smithfield teen Harry Afualo, who died after a motorbike accident at Lurnea, has been remembered as a gentle giant, a soft-spoken generous young man with ambition to one day take over the barber shop where he was an apprentice.

The 18-year old died on Wednesday following a motorbike accident at Hoxton Park Rd.

He is survived his mother, Linda, father, Jack, and siblings Samuel, Isaac, Olivia, and Denzel.

Harry Afualo is remembered by friends and family as a gentle giant.

Mr Afualo was heading to the McDonald’s on Cowpasture Rd with his friends from the gym, after having come home to clean his room.

Jezdacus Ruka, one of his oldest friends, was with him on the night. He arrived at the McDonald’s first in his own motorbike and began to get worried when Mr Afualo did not arrive.

Jezdacus Ruka and Harry Afualo were best friends.

He later drove past the scene of the accident and had his worst fears confirmed when he stopped to speak to police and paramedics.

Mr Afualo sustained critical injuries and died at Liverpool Hospital a short time later.

His friends and colleagues have reminisced on his love of food — especially Korean barbecue — and his tendency to always get up first to pay, no matter how big the bill was, remembering him as a reliable, modest young man.

Mr Afualo dropped out of Westfield Sports High School in Year 10 to take on his passion of becoming a barber, and is remembered fondly by the principal Andrew Rogers.

“Harry wasn’t one of my top students but he will always be one of my favourites to have taught,” Mr Rogers said.

“A lovely and genuine young man, who actually said thanks to me when I told him goodbye.”

The team at FourWalls barbershop in Fairfield, took him on as a 16-year old apprentice after negotiating with the school.

Mr Afualo had come in to get his haircut as a 14-year old and took a liking to the shop and wanted to learn.

Colleagues Rattanak Col, Patty Phouthavong and Stacy Peke all remember a shy young man gradually coming out of his shell, growing in confidence and as a person, who also had a favourite spot to fall asleep on when the shop was quiet.

“He was a really beautiful kid, I’m going to miss him a lot”, Ms Peke said.

“I had never really met a young man like him.”

Harry Afualo had a passion for cutting hair, and the ambition to take his skills further.

Mr Phouthavong said Mr Afualo was a man of few words and a gentle giant.

“So when he would speak, everyone’s head would turn,” he said.

Mr Col noted Mr Afualo dealt well with the challenge of holding conversations with grown men as a shy 16-year old.

“He was well-mannered, proper, and raised well,” he said.

Mr Afualo had less than a year left on his apprenticeship.

Zoe McNamara, Jezdacus Ruka and Harry Afualo taking a trip to the Central Coast.

Despite being only 18, Mr Afualo was also helping with the bills at home, sharing his apprentice wages to help out his mum.

Mr Ruka joked that they once went away for a week and Mr Afualo missed his mum like he was gone for a year, calling her every day and saying he missed her and wanted to come home.

But when Mr Afualo came home, he had Covid, so he had to isolate for a week at the granny flat on his grandparents’ property.

Mr Ruka, along with his close friends Sergen Sevince and Jerilee Garcia, remember him calling them up and asking them to buy him a tent so he could camp outside and be closer to the Wi-Fi.

After going through the trouble of finding one for him through Facebook marketplace in the middle of the night, they arrived there only to find him already set up in a tent, on his laptop, and complaining about mosquito bites.

He also had another one at his house, making him the owner of three different tents.

Jerilee Garcia, Jezdacus Ruka, Patty Phouthavong, Stacy Peke, Rattanak Col and Sergen Sevince shared stories about Harry Afualo. Picture: Paul Brescia

“It’s devastating to see one of our closest friends just go,” Mr Sevince said.

Mr Garcia set up a GoFundMe to help out the family with the costs of the funeral, which has so far raised $9300.

“It’s a really big stress reliever for the family,” Mr Garcia said.

Mr Afualo was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, in Prairiewood. The funeral date has not been set yet.

Police continue to investigate the single-vehicle crash and have appealed for anyone with information to come forward by calling Liverpool police on 9765 9499.