Brian Stafford dies in tragic Portland, Oregon motorbike crash
A Sydney family is grieving a beloved young relative after his tragic death in a motorbike crash in the United States. Brian Stafford was just 24 – and his family has turned to the community for help to bring him home to Australia.
St George Shire Standard
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A beloved Sydney man has been remembered as a beautiful soul who lived life to the full after his tragic death overseas in a motorbike crash.
Brian Stafford, 24 – known to his family as BJ – tragically lost his life on Saturday after a motorbike crash in Portland, Oregon, where he had been living in recent months.
His family has now launched an appeal on GoFundMe to raise enough money to bring his ashes home to Australia after COVID-19 curtailed any thought of flying to America to farewell him.
BJ’s aunt Dianne Regan said he was always the funniest person in the room.
“I know it’s cliche to say, but I don’t think there was anyone that didn’t like him,” Ms Regan said.
“He was literally the funniest guy I’ve ever met – like, out of a movie funny.”
An American news report stated BJ was unable to slow his motorbike in time when traffic slowed on a highway in front of him, then fell off his bike and hit the car in front of him.
It was the final tragic twist in BJ’s life, which Ms Regan said could not have been scripted.
Born in America in a home torn apart by domestic violence and then orphaned at a young age, BJ and his two sisters were raised by Ms Regan and her husband Sean in Australia as their own.
“They have been through so much, our family has been ripped apart,” Ms Regan said.
“My husband and I are so proud of all of them – they are just amazing humans, they broke the cycle after everything they suffered as kids.”
BJ also had two more younger sisters who remained in America, and was loved dearly by his friends.
“His friends adored him, he was such a good friend – a buddy buddy guy, but nothing like you might expect a popular guy to be,” Ms Regan said.
“He had a beautiful soul, and because he was funny people loved to be around him.”
Ms Regan said BJ – a carpenter by trade – was also a passionate basketballer and gym enthusiast who loved to keep fit.
“He had an unbelievable body, he was always going to the gym and he was always walking around with his shirt off,” Ms Regan laughed.
“He loved to play basketball, and his number was 24 – which is how old he was when he died.”
BJ had always joked he would not make it to 30 – and though his eerie prediction tragically came true, Ms Regan said he always lived life to the full as long as he could.
“He lived life like every day was the last day on earth,” Ms Regan said.
“He was crazy, he did amazing things – we’ve lost him at 24 but I feel comfort that he actually had done more than most people will ever do in a lifetime.”
The family’s GoFundMe to bring BJ’s ashes home to Australia for a proper family farewell has raised more than $6000 in a handful of days.
The family is hoping to raise $10,000 to cover the complete cost after Ms Regan and her husband’s business, in live events and entertainment, was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’m normally the one doing this for friends and other people, that’s what I do – my passion is to help people,” Ms Regan said.
“This time my friends did it for me – I was actually a bit embarrassed, I was worried about how it looked, but I thought instead of flowers, $20 from friends would help us bring him home and that’s what BJ deserves.”
BJ’s girlfriend in America Corrynne Beatty also penned a touching tribute to her late boyfriend, describing him as her “green eyed boy”.
“I keep waking up every 30 minutes and checking my side for you, but you’re not here,” Ms Beatty wrote.
“I’m happy my last words were telling you I loved you – I kissed you and gave you head scratches when I said goodbye to you at the hospital.
“I just couldn’t let you go without one last I love you.”
Ms Regan and her husband Sean will never have to wonder what the love and support they gave BJ meant to him, thanks to a permanent tribute he made to them in the last months of his life.
“We didn’t want him to get any tattoos, and actually I was pretty angry at the time but he got a tattoo on his heart that said ‘Auntie and Uncle’,” Ms Regan said.
“He messaged me saying how much he loved us, and he had to get this because there was nothing else that he could say that expressed how much we meant to him.”
Donate to BJ’s GoFundMe here.