The Pringle family mourn the loss of their son Ryan, two weeks after dying in a truck crash

Ryan Pringle was doing what he loved, riding up front in his dad’s truck just days after Christmas. It would be the last time he’d do it.

The Pringles had just finished celebrating another Christmas with their four happy kids when they were struck by a tragedy no family should have to go through.

Ryan Pringle, the youngest boy in the family, was only seven but he was already a beloved part of the community in the small Queensland town of Helidon when he lost his life to a horrific crash.

It was on December 27 that the “cheeky” seven-year-old jumped at the chance to ride shotgun in his dad’s truck, like he’d done so many times before.

Ryan Pringle died two days after Christmas. Picture: Facebook

Just after 5pm, Ryan was sitting next to his dad, driving down the Gore Highway when the truck in front of them attempted to turn into a small side street.

Ryan’s dad Ben and the driver of the other truck were rushed to hospital but the seven-year-old didn’t make it.

Two weeks later, the Pringle family is still reeling from their beloved boy’s death, especially Ben who has taken to social media to express his guilt.

On January 3, a week after the crash, Mr Pringle said his son’s death would “haunt” him for the rest of his life.

“Well my little boy where to start I cannot express how sorry I am it will haunt me for the rest of my days but please know that I will never stop loving and stop thinking about you, you are my little man and always will be my heart has been broken in a way that will never be fixed,” Mr Pringle wrote.

“I love you more than life itself and my world will never be the same. Love dad.”

A week later, Mr Pringle took to Facebook again.

“My little man this pain is hurting me sooooo bad I feel like I can’t breathe I wish you were with me I need your smiles and cuddles right now like never before I don’t know how to feel and every day is a blur, but your cheeky smile and blue eyes and freckles keep me going,” he wrote.

The Pringle family later spoke to The Chroniclewith Ryan’s mum Bec explaining what her first phone call with her husband was like.

“Ben rang me and I couldn’t understand what he was saying and then I cottoned on to what he said,” Mrs Pringle said.

“He just said ‘I lost our little boy, I’m so sorry, I tried.’

“Nothing is ever going to be the same. I don’t know what to feel or do, we walk around aimlessly, nothing feels right, it feels empty, it feels wrong.”

Ben Pringle, 31, was behind the wheel of the CB Metcalf Transport truck that tragically crashed into another truck and rolled over and caught fire.

Mr Pringle told the publication there isn’t much from the crash he remembers but he does recall emergency services prying him away from the burning truck as he tried to pull his son from the wreckage.

The dad-of-four was left with serious burns and a shattered knee cap from the crash.

Now the family is focused on making sure Ryan’s youngest sibling, 11-month-old Hailee, will remember her brother.

“He was amazing, he was cheeky and perfect,” Mrs Pringle told The Chronicle.

“We will make sure Hailee remembers him we are never going to forget him.

“He will always be a part of everything we do even though he’s not here.”

Ryan with his three siblings.