The heartbroken brother of a 13-year-old boy who died while crossing a busy highway has revealed the teenager’s final moments.
Korbin Reid was with his older brother Zack, 24, and their father when the teenager was struck by a vehicle on the Great Western Highway at Bowenfels, 3km south of Lithgow in the Central Highlands of New South Wales, last Friday evening.
The teenager was riding his electric scooter at the time and was about 1 km from the traffic light when the group decided to cross the highway. A decision that ended in tragedy when a car appeared ‘out of nowhere’ and hit Korbin.
His brother can’t get the image of Korbin lying seriously injured on the ground out of his mind.
“He was face down in the road. I immediately got down on my knees and held his head against my leg,” Zack said 7news.com.au.
‘Within seconds of me calling his name, he started blinking and taking very shallow breaths. He was shivering all over.’
As the group crossed the highway, there were no signs of cars. But then, “out of nowhere,” a car came and hit Korbin.
Korbin was rushed to hospital in Lithgow and later airlifted to the children’s hospital at Westmead in Sydney, where he lost his battle for life.
Korbin Reid (pictured), 13, was killed last Friday while crossing a highway in New South Wales
Korbin is the second son to lose his father.
“I lost my brother Logan (when I was) four years old to SIDS. He was only two months old,” Zack recalls.
“My dad still isn’t over putting Logan to sleep, and now he has to put his other son to sleep too… he doesn’t know what to think.”
He added that his father had become “closed off” since Korbin’s death.
The Reid family are a well known name in the community of Lithgow.
Korbin’s mother is a volunteer with the SES and St Vincent de Paul.
Two family members have a GoFundMe page to support Korbin’s broken family, raising more than $5,200.
Korbin (left) is pictured with his brother Zack, who was with the teenager when he was hit by a car and later died.
Zack said the local community had rallied to support the family and remember Korbin.
He described his younger brother as “a very energetic, bright person. He always looked on the bright side of things. He always made sure everyone was laughing.”
Zack said his parents struggled to find the strength to plan Korbin’s funeral.
Tributes poured in for the teenager on social media, with his mother heartbroken and saying she “missed her little boy.”
“Mom and Dad love you, and your sisters and brothers too,” she wrote.
Another family remembered him as “such a sweet, funny boy.”
New South Wales police said the 45-year-old driver of the vehicle that struck Korbin was also taken to hospital for mandatory assessments.
No charges have been filed.