I JUST WANT TO TOUCH HIS SKIN ONE LAST TIME..! – HEARTBROKEN MUM REVEALS HER FINAL WISH AS SHE PREPARES TO IDENTIFY HER NEWLYWED SON AFTER HE WAS K-ILLED AT A HILLS WORKSITE.
Labourer Josh Parkin killed in Hills workplace incident just months after wedding
A young labourer’s family knew something was wrong when he hadn’t returned home on census night, so his dad raced to the worksite to discover his son’s lifeless body.
Josh Parkin has been identified as the 26-year-old man killed during a workplace incident in the Adelaide Hills. Picture: Facebook
Young man dies in workplace incident
The family of a young man tragically killed in a horrific workplace incident in the Adelaide Hills knew something was wrong when he hadn’t returned home to complete Tuesday night’s census.
The next morning, just before 6am after still not hearing a word from 26-year-old labourer Josh Parkin, his dad Max decided to drive to the Charleston worksite where he was last seen.
It was there, among the foggy Wednesday morning haze, that Mr Parkin found his beloved son’s lifeless body, where it had remained all night.
Josh Parkin has been identified as the 26-year-old man killed in a workplace incident in the Adelaide Hills. Picture: Facebook
Mr Parkin and his wife Mekayla. Picture: Facebook
“His dad went and found him,” Josh’s mum Tanya Thomson told The Advertiser. “I reckon for the next two hours, I was just walking around the house repeating the word ‘no’ – ‘no, no, no, no, no’.
“We’ve all been waiting to wake up from this nightmare for the last two days.
“Josh was empathetic to a fault. He had a fantastic work ethic, which ended up costing him his life. He was quirky, funny, loving. He just loved people – he would give anyone the shirt off his back.”
Only a few months ago, in April, Josh married his high school sweetheart Mekayla Jane – with the two almost inseparable since meeting each other when they were both 1.
The couple got married in April. Picture: Facebook
On Tuesday, he left for work like any other day, but sadly never returned home.
By Wednesday morning, he was found dead at a worksite near Lobethal – with SafeWork SA now investigating the cause of his death.
Ms Thomson said Josh had been operating a large tree chipper used to pull trees and logs apart.
Witnesses saw Safe Work vehicles entering the Harrison Road property at Charleston. Picture: Natalie Vikhrov
The site of the fatal workplace incident at Charleston. Picture: 7NEWS Adelaide
On Thursday afternoon, Josh’s family were asked to drive up to Lobethal to identify his body.
“I’m hoping that I just get to touch his skin one last time,” Ms Thomson said. “That’s all I want.”
A SafeWork SA spokesman said personnel were on the scene investigating the incident.
In 2019, Josh was the victim of a hit-and-run collision while riding his motorbike at Black Forest, in Adelaide’s inner-south.
He was just 18 at the time when he was struck by a driver who failed to give way – and then sped off.
The impact, caused by the crash, drove the bike’s peg into Josh’s foot which left him with a “golf ball-sized hole” in his foot which required an emergency graft. He spent five nights in hospital.
