Family and friends remember Brayden Roy six months after fatal Maroondan crash

Six months after 22-year-old Brayden Roy was killed, his grieving, frustrated family and closest friends have gathered at a makeshift memorial to their lovable B-Roy.

On the side of a bare, featureless stretch of road, the loved ones of Brayden Roy came together to remember their son, grandson, brother and friend.

On Saturday, October 21, six months and one day since Brayden was killed in a crash while riding his beloved Honda XR650 out to his family’s Wallaville property, about 30 of his family and friends gathered to tend to a makeshift memorial at the scene.

Among the first to arrive at the corner of Bundaberg Gin Gin Rd and Melvilles Rd in Maroondan, 7km east of Gin Gin, was Brayden’s grandmother, Dell Hotz, sitting on her walker under an umbrella for some relief from the hot spring afternoon.

Brayden’s grandmother, Dell Hotz, remembered the warm greeting Brayden gave her whenever she would go into the Fresh Fields Foodworks where he worked through high school and after graduating.

Dell remembered the warm greeting Brayden gave her whenever she would go into the Fresh Fields Foodworks where he worked through high school and after graduating.

“I used to see him there and he’d say ‘how are you, Grandma’,” Dell said with a loving smile.

In May, the day after Brayden’s funeral at Branyan Gardens, one of Dell’s granddaughters came by the scene to pick up some of the remnants of the crash, mementos of Brayden’s last moments, and placed some flowers against a lamppost on the corner, the beginnings of a memorial to which the family has been adding over the months since.

A pair of Brayden's shows, a couple of beers and some flowers were laid in memory of him in the months following the crash.

Among the others quietly arriving were Brayden’s parents, Tania and James Roy, with Tania carrying Brayden’s ashes in a bright orange urn emblazoned with a ‘Live To Ride’ badge.

Brayden's mother, Tania Roy, arrived bearing her son's ashes in an urn emblazoned with a ‘Live To Ride’ badge.

Dabbing her eyes, Tania approached the memorial where others were stringing flowers up the lamppost, and digging a hole nearby into which a wooden cross reading ‘Brayden Roy – Forever Young’ was placed.

“It’s just really, really heartbreaking (to be here), it’s just really sad,” Tania said, her voice trembling with grief.

“There’s no way to describe it, it’s so painful it really is.”

Family and friends wrap flowers around the lamppost at the corner of the crash scene.

Six months after she arrived home after her shift as an aged care home cleaner to find police cars parked outside, Tania said the debilitating pain she felt that day has been with her ever since.

“It’s just horrendous”, she said.

“The pain just doesn’t go away it’s every day, every day … it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.

“But I’ve got him here with me, I wanted to bring him with me so he’s here too.”

Friends and family plant a wooden cross at the corner as a more permanent memorial to Brayden Roy.

Trina Barry, Brayden’s older sister, said it was still “surreal” knowing that her baby brother wouldn’t be walking again through the front door of their Avenell Heights home.

“It’s surreal, you think about him every day,” Trina said.

“You don’t forget him.”

With the cross now in place, people gathered in twos and threes for a quiet moment of contemplation.

Brayden’s father, James, beside himself with grief, poured a shot of whiskey over the top of the cross in memory of the son with whom he would often go touring along with Brayden’s older brother, James jnr.

Brayden's father James (middle), beside himself with grief, poured a shot of whiskey over the cross.

After they had their moment and moved away, two of Brayden’s friends, Ben Geddes and Levi Stoker-Perdy, said while they were sad at the loss of their best mate ‘B-Roy’, they were buoyed by the amount of people who came to the memorial, testament to the many lives Brayden had touched through his loving and gregarious nature.

“It’s still sad, can’t get over it but it’s always going to be there,” Ben said.

“I’m just happy that everyone was able to come.”

Brayden's friends Ben Geddes and Levi Stoker-Perdy said the large group that gathered to remember 'B-Roy' were testament to the many lives he had touched through his loving and gregarious nature.

Levi said he “didn’t expect this many people to show up for B-Roy on this day, it’s awesome”.

“His laughter, he was such a joy to be around.”

Ben agreed, saying Brayden could “fit into any group” and would readily respond to any request for help.

“He could do anything if he put his mind to it, that’s what made him Brayden, and that’s what made him B-Roy,” Ben said.

When asked if Brayden often spoke to them about the Wallaville farm to which he was riding the day of the crash, Ben said all Brayden’s friends grew up on the property.

On the Wallaville farm which was Braydon's passion, his friends said 'he just wanted a home for everyone'.

“He got all us boys into it, we all grew up around it,” he said.

“He wanted his younger generations, his nephews and nieces, and possibly one day his own kids to be a part of it.

“At the end of the day, he just wanted a home for everyone.”

With all having paid their respects the gathering began to disperse, offering quiet words of support to each other as they left.

A common theme spoken among all in attendance was a feeling of impatience and frustration with the slowly turning wheels of justice.

Brayden’s closest family, including Tania and Trina, were present at the first hearing in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on June 6, where 81-year-old Horse Camp man Dennis Neller was charged with dangerously operating a vehicle causing death.

Brayden’s closest family, including Tania and Trina, were present at the first hearing in Bundaberg Magistrates Court on June 6, where the alleged driver of the car involved in the crash was charged with dangerously operating a vehicle causing death.

After numerous adjournments to allow the police prosecutors to prepare the brief of evidence, and Mr Neller’s legal team to prepare their case, the Bundaberg Magistrates Court registry said the matter is next listed to be heard in another mention hearing on Tuesday, October 31.

“It just keeps getting adjourned all the time, I don’t know why,” Tania said.

“I don’t know; it’s so unfair, it really is.”

Originally published as Family and friends remember Brayden Roy six months after fatal Maroondan crash