The death of a 13-year-old Lithgow boy, killed while crossing the road with his brother and father, has left his NSW family distraught and in shock.
Korbin Reid was riding his electric scooter as he usually did with her father and brother on the weekends when he was hit on the Great Western Hwy at Bowenfels on Friday evening.
Older brother Zack, 24, said he could not get the image of his sibling lying on the ground badly injured out of his head.
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“He was face down on the road. I instantly just got down on my knees and held his head up against my leg,” Zack said.
“Within a couple of seconds of me yelling out his name, he started flickering his eyes and there was some very shallow breathing. He was shivering all over.”
The group were about 1km from a traffic light when they decided to cross the highway.
There were no signs of cars, but Zack said as they got to the median island, a car “came out of nowhere” and hit Korbin.
The 13-year-old was rushed to Lithgow Hospital then to The Children’s Hospital at Westmead where he later died.
NSW Police said the 45-year-old driver was taken for mandatory testing. No charges have been laid.
Zack said Korbin was the second child his father has lost.
He said after Friday’s incident, his father has just become “closed off”.
“I lost my brother Logan at the age of four years old to SIDS. He was only about two months old,” Zack said.
“My dad still hadn’t gotten over putting Logan to rest, and now he’s having to put his other son to rest … he doesn’t know what to think.”
Korbin’s family are well-known in the Lithgow community — his mother is an SES and St Vincent de Paul volunteer.
Zack said the community had rallied to support and remember Korbin.
“He was a very energetic, bright-lighted person,” Zack said of Korbin.
“He always looked at the good side of things. He always made everyone laugh.”
Loved ones have set up an online fundraiser to support the family.
Zack said his parents were struggling to bring themselves to plan their son’s funeral.