Perspective

[thylacine60]

LIFE was looking up for Peter Fuss and Mark Cornea when tragedy struck at peak hour.
Mr Cornea, 27, was about to start a new life with his wife, Janet, after spending their first married years apart.
Mr Fuss, 39, who was driving Mr Cornea to pick up his repaired car, had just become a grandfather for the first time.
He kept a photo on his desk of his two-month-old grandson wearing a North Melbourne footy jumper and holding a teddy bear.
Instead, both men died on Monday at the intersection of Heaths Rd and Mossfiel Drive, Hoppers Crossing, after another driver allegedly ran a red light about 5pm.
Both men were from Hoppers Crossing.
Mr Cornea's family pleaded for drivers to slow down.
His brother, David, said the keen fisherman was settling into married life after his wife arrived in December.
"He only got married a couple of years ago to Janet.
"It's only the last eight months they were able to be together. He was so happy. He was so settled."
Janet was in shock, David said. We were at the crash site . . . We were all freaking."
David said his mother panicked after seeing the wreck on television.
"Then I get a call from Mum. She was screaming.
"I went to the crash and saw my (former) boss's beanie on the ground. Then a police officer handed me my brother's wallet."
His new life had turned Mr Cornea, a Carlton supporter and car enthusiast, into a hard-working member of a small team at Boddingtons, a maker of marking tapes.
Mr Cornea, a machine operator, was finally making ends meet and had asked his supervisor for a lift to pick up his car, under repair at his cousin's.
Tim Fuss, Peter's brother, said it was not surprising his brother was helping someone.
He said Peter's partner, Jan, had driven past the accident and recognised the car but was unable to stop.
"She . . . saw the registration and thought, 'that's my car'. She couldn't pull over so she kept driving home. She said she was sure it was her car but at the same time not sure.
"She was all numb. She picked up her son at home and went back and asked about the occupants and as she got closer, she knew."
Tim described Mr Fuss as a family man whose grandson, Jett, was his joy and whose second love was the North Melbourne Football Club.
Mr Fuss's mother, Marilyn, and brothers Steve, Robby and Tony were heartbroken, Tim said.
Michael John Talkes, 24, of Melton West, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates' Court yesterday on two counts of culpable driving causing death.
He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to return to court in October.
The Road Trauma Support Team offers free counselling for anyone involved or who saw the accident on (03) 9877 7922.


In amongst the details of this man's life and death they happen to mention who he followed in the footy. Much like this forum we don't know many other club supporters personally but reading this might give us reason to appreciate everyday things, like going to the football, a little more. Good wishes to the families and friends involved.

 

[Beloved]

As silly as it is, that article has significant meaning for me.

It's amazing how fast life can change for all involved, the worst thing about it being that it was at no fault of their own, just wreckless morons trying to beat peak hour traffic.

R.I.P

 

[HBF]

Condolences to both mens family and friends.
This article, and the many others that are published daily, really does put life into perspective, and how trivial some things are in life.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Tragic and very sad. You just never know ........

How do we know when one of these incidents involves a member of our own BigFooty fraternity? Posters come and go and you never really know what happened to them, unless like Lidge, friends post here as well.

I feel like the Sgt in Hill Street Blues ... people be careful out there.

 

[Alpha1]

It does make you think how everything else takes a backseat when there is so much tragedy. My condolences to the family and friends, and we must also think about the tragedy happening in the rest of the world and try in our small way to help and hopefully make the world a better place.

 

[uptheblues]

Rip

 

[Jezza U Beauty]

Thoughtful post Thylacine.

Without getting into any details, I found myself in the ICU at the Royal Adelaide Hospital for a good period a number of years ago, and was told later that I'd been rated a 1% chance of surviving whilst I was out to it.

The whole episode gave me a new appreciation for what's genuinely important in life and what isn't. Unfortunately a lot of people put way too much focus on the latter, although it's not really anyone's fault because you tend to take things for granted until you're shown that you shouldn't.