Hardworking Aussie dad is found dead after failing to arrive for his mother’s funeral
A young father was tragically killed in a freak accident after taking a walk while trying to clear his head just before his mother’s funeral.
Jeffrey Norris, 38, had traveled from Byron Bay to the Gold Coast last week to arrange his mother’s funeral, which took place on Wednesday.
On the morning of the ceremony, he went for a walk in the woods in search of peace, but tragically, he was fatally injured in a freak accident.
“I called him this morning and he was fine,” his partner Brooke Stone explained. Then he went for a walk in the woods and slipped. He fell because it was wet.
‘It looks like a stick went right through the main artery in his leg.
“He also had some head injuries but we’re still waiting for the coroner to get back to us – but I’m pretty sure he would have died instantly,” she said.
Mrs Stone knew something was wrong when her partner never showed up at his beloved mother’s funeral.
“He would never not show up. “It wasn’t right that he wasn’t there,” she said.
Jeffrey Norris (pictured left with his son Lucky and partner of six years Brooke Stone) had gone bushwalking in an area he knew well to ‘clear his head’ on the morning of his mother’s funeral, but was accidentally killed
‘He just never came back.
At the funeral, guests asked Mrs. Stone where Mr. Norris was, and as time passed without any sign of him, her concern grew.
‘I thought: “This isn’t right. I don’t know where he is, I can’t find him,” she said.
“We filed a missing persons report with the police and they finally found his body on Saturday.”
The young family had moved from the Gold Coast to Byron Bay and were living a ‘beautiful life’ (photo Lucky, 2, Mrs Stone and Mr Norris)
The former Coolangatta juice bar owner is survived by his son Lucky, who recently turned two.
‘He loved us. He would never have wanted to leave us,” she said.
Fighting back tears, Ms Stone said her partner, a one-time surfing coach and one-time pro surfer, was looking forward to riding the waves with his son.
“His biggest dream was to make Lucky a surfer,” she said.
‘That would become his passion with Lucky and he always said: ‘When Lucky is six or five, you will never see us again, we will go surfing together’.
The young father was happy when his son was born so he could teach him to surf (in the photo Mr. Norris and his two-year-old son Lucky)
The former professional surfer (photo) was also a surfing coach and couldn’t wait to hit the waves with his son
Mrs. Stone said she worries about how her son will cope with his loss when he is older, but she will encourage surfing so Lucky is connected to his father.
“Jeffrey has some shelves at home, I’m going to save them for Lucky and one day we’ll make him proud,” she said.
Ms Stone said the couple were close and had experienced tragedy earlier in their relationship.
“We lost our first child together a few years ago,” she said.
‘We’ve been through so much together. I just never thought this would happen.
The young father (pictured right) was described as a supportive friend who seemed to know ‘everyone’
Mr Norris had traveled back to where he grew up on the Gold Coast to plan his mother’s funeral. The two were very close and on the morning of the funeral Mr Norris went for a walk in the bush to ‘clear his head’ (photo Mr Norris with his beloved mother, Jenny Norris, 75)
‘I’m absolutely in shock, it just doesn’t seem real yet.
‘We have had a beautiful life.’
Mr Norris, who was the main breadwinner for his young family, was described by Ms Stone as ‘rare’, ‘loving’ and ‘real’.
“We haven’t left each other’s sides pretty much since we’ve been together,” she said.
‘Ask anyone who knew him, he was that man who would do anything for anyone.
‘That’s what breaks my heart. He was just a rare breed.
“Anyone who needed someone in their life to support them, he would be that person.”
Mr. Norris was remembered as a friend loved by all and as a happy soul.
“He just had so much love to give,” Mrs. Stone said.
A GoFundMe has been started to help Mrs Stone and two-year-old Lucky with living costs, rent and possible future relocation – as well as funeral costs.