Axle Young was tinkering underneath his car on Sunday, getting it ready for his P1 driving test the following day, when it fell and fatally crushed him.
The 17-year-old was two years into an apprenticeship, and two months into living in his new Mittagong rental with girlfriend Shyanne Organ, with whom he’d celebrated a one-year anniversary the day before his life was cut short.
Organ, a 21-year-old aged care nurse, had just nipped out to Kmart to buy a long-sleeved top to wear underneath her scrubs during the colder months, when she got a call from Young.
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He was looking for his AirPods so he could listen to music while performing a “five-minute job” on his car. Organ told him where the headphones were and said she’d be home in five minutes.
“He said: ‘OK, see you soon. I love you, Bye.’ And I said I love you, too,” Organ told 7NEWS.com.au.
Those were the last words the young couple shared with each other.
When Organ arrived home shortly after, she called out to Young, whose legs she could see poking out from beneath his car in the driveway.
“There was no response, there was no movement, I couldn’t hear any tools being used, I couldn’t hear his music, nothing,” Organ said.
“That’s when I got on my knees and put my head under the car, and I saw what happened. I could tell by his face.
“I haven’t been able to sleep because every time I close my eyes, I just go back and see his face.”
Based on the injuries apparent at that moment, Organ said: “I knew he was gone, but I just did what I had to do.
“I screamed and cried for a little bit because I didn’t know what the hell was going on, and then I just went straight into action.
“He always taught me how to do stuff with a car, and the first thing he ever taught me was how to jack up a car to change a tyre.
“I went and got his jack, I jacked the car up, and I just pulled him out.”
She performed CPR while she waited for paramedics, who “took a long time to get there” and declared Young dead at the scene.
Young and Organ began their relationship on Facebook, and Organ moved from her family home in Wollongong to live with Young in the Southern Highlands shortly after.
Just a day before his death, Young and Organ had celebrated their one-year anniversary with a dinner date and a movie at the cinema, unaware their future together would be tragically cut short within 24 hours.
A GoFundMe has been created to fundraise for “a beautiful funeral and send off” for Young, and to cover expenses for his family “in this time of great sadness,” it said.
Tributes flow for Axle’s ‘legacy and kindness’
Young’s best friends gathered at his Mittagong home with red roses after his death.
His brother John Zeiser thanked their community for their heartfelt messages, alongside an image of Young and Organ together, in a Facebook post on Monday.
“I love you, little brother, with all my heart,” he wrote.
His older sister Cheyenne Young also expressed the pain of her grief on Facebook.
“I love you so much baby brother, you’ll be my best friend, (you) always protected me no matter what. None of this feels real, please stay with me always.
“I can’t say goodbye to you. It hurts and it just keeps hurting. I will never be the same without you, my baby brother, I love you more than life itself.”
Family, friends and colleagues all flocked to social media to share their kind words and condolences.
“Axle was one amazing kid, loved by so many people,” Young’s aunt Lynelle Price posted on Facebook.
“We were blessed with one of the most loving, kind nephews, who at 17 achieved so much. You will be so, so missed,” another aunt, Annette Roche said.
Young’s community of car enthusiasts said: “Our car community is collectively are saddened by the horrible news that young 17-year-old Axle died while performing maintenance on his VK Commodore.”
The Floor Covering Institute of Australia said Young “was on the pathway to becoming a good craftsman”.
And Southern Highlands Carpet Court, where Young worked as an apprentice for two years, spoke of their employee’s infectious spirit.
“His patience, commitment and his beautiful nature would always put a smile on everyone’s face here at Carpet Court,” the outlet wrote on Facebook.
“At the young age of 17 you showed us how determined and passionate you are about your career and future. The growth of this young man definitely did not go unnoticed, and we will cherish that forever!
“Your legacy and kindness will always be remembered and never forgotten.”
A warning for home mechanics
Organ explained the motivation with which Young approached his passions: “If he has something on his mind, to do with his car or work, he’ll never let it rest. He’d just do it until it was done, even if he was out there from sunrise to sunset.”
He had just been completing a “five-minute job” when the car collapsed on top of him.
“Don’t work on your car alone. He worked on his car every weekend for hours and hours, and he went out there to do one little thing … and his car fell,” Organ said.
“Make sure there’s always something under your car, even if you jack it up because you just never know.”
One mechanic posted underneath a Facebook tribute to Young: “Seen it too much in my trade.”
There have been 46 deaths to occur in the last decade in Australia as a result of victims being crushed under a vehicle they were working underneath, according to Product Safety Australia.
“On average, 160 injuries are associated with jacks each year. Injuries have ranged from amputation to fractures and crush injuries,” it said.