Sam Landsberger’s father Jake talks his son’s final moments after tragic death

The Landsberger family has been inundated with messages of tribute since the death of beloved Herald Sun journalist Sam Landsberger, who died after being hit by a truck on Tuesday.

Herald Sun journalist Sam Landsberger Picture: Supplied

Sam Landsberger was talking to his mother Anne on his ­mobile when he was struck and killed by a truck on Tuesday morning.

A devastated Jake Landsberger, Sam’s father, confirmed the tragic circumstances after the family was inundated with hundreds of messages of tribute for their beloved son.

The truck driver that fatally struck the respected Herald Sun sports journalist has been charged after he allegedly refused to provide police with a blood sample.

Jake said there was some comfort that his son’s final moments were spent with his mother.

“Anne was on the phone with Sam when it happened, heard the hit, she heard the commotion, and we’ve been beside ourselves worrying whether she actually possibly distracted him,” Jake said.

Herald Sun journalist Sam Landsberger

“Anne was talking to him as he was walking down across the road to go and meet (his friend and former Herald Sun colleague) Nick Smart.

‘’The next thing there was commotion, a stranger picked up the phone, and said: ‘Who am I talking to’. Anne said: ‘I’m Sam’s mother, who are you’.

“And he said, ‘I’m sorry to say but your son has just been hit by a vehicle … he’s lying on the ground’. The man conversed with Sam initially until he lost consciousness.’’

Sam, 35, was taken to The Alfred hospital and did not survive an operation.

The man and the family messaged again on Wednesday. “He messaged us and said, ‘I told Sam I was on the phone with his mother and he was at peace knowing that he was communicating with you through me’.’’

The family on Wednesday dealt with the coroner and their rabbi in preparation for Monday’s planned funeral. He said the family was alerted to the police charges by their daughter, Jess, late on Wednesday.

“It’s made us angry,” Jake said. He said the family was “numb” and “disbelieving” and had taken comfort from the messages sent from sporting people and work colleagues.

“I can’t put into words the comfort, the joy and the pride we are getting from that,” Jake said.

“By the time we both took two sleeping pills to go to bed about 9pm on Tuesday, I personally had received in excess of 250 messages and Anne probably the same,” Jake said.

Sarah, Anne, Jake, Jess and Sam Landsberger on holiday in Noosa. Picture: Supplied

“The tributes, watching AFL360, seeing The Tackle had been postponed, the stories all over the media … I said to Anne while we sat at our table bawling our eyes out, I wish I could go back to the morgue in the coroner’s court, just wake Sam up briefly and say, ‘Sam, look how much you were loved, look how much you were admired’.

“Because he had no idea. He did not realise. I spoke to him so many times about this being his dream job, I kept saying you’ve achieved your dream and he’d keep looking at me and say, ‘Yeah, thanks dad’. He was very self-deprecating.

“The degree to what we’ve seen has blown us to smithereens.”

He spoke of a young boy who loved the Bulldogs, who always wanted to be a journalist and who had work ethic that often would see him working until 3am and 4am on research.

“He just loved the paper (Herald Sun) and the TV,’’ Jake said.

The long-time Bulldogs club doctor, Jake said Sam would join him at the footy club from when he was six years old, and they shared a wonderful moment when the Bulldogs won the 2016 premiership. “This is a nightmare for all of us,’’ he said. “We loved him so much.

“I remember saying to ­patients – and we’re living it now – I remember saying, a parent should never bury one of their children. And that’s now us.

“Anne’s mother passed away in New Zealand two or three months ago, she was 94. Not this age (Sam was 35). It’s indescribable. We constantly look at each other and we think, look at what we’ve lost and what he’s lost in the future because of one stupid thing.”