|
Melbourne motorbike rider Simon Buckley, 32, dies on fundraising trip
A 32-year-old Melbourne motorbike rider killed in Argentina while raising money to fight prostate cancer has been remembered as a "fun-loving, quintessentially Aussie bloke''.
Simon Buckley is believed to have died in a road accident on Wednesday when a back tyre blow-out caused him to be thrown off his bike. He was only weeks away from finishing a year-long trip around the world on his motorbike with his co-rider and close friend, NSW man Todd Barry, 28. Mr Barry told AAP from New Zealand - where he had gone last month to fundraise after leaving Mr Buckley in South America - that he was devastated and still in shock. "I was speaking to his sister today about making arrangements for insurance and repatriation,'' he said. "They don't know too much about what's actually happened. "We'd known each other for seven years and worked together in Europe and Australia with the same tour company. "Travelling was a pretty big part of both our lives and we decided it was time for our own adventure ... while doing something worthwhile.'' Mr Buckley was well-known in the motorcycling fraternity for his efforts in fundraising for prostate cancer through his involvement with the Rumble Riders, a club involving bikers that speak out about the disease. Mr Buckley and Mr Barry were probably too young to get prostate cancer themselves but had still generously given public presentations about it during a trip that would take them to all seven continents, Prostate Council of Australia Queensland manager and motorcyclist Graeme Higgs said. They had been speaking in far-flung countries such as Mongolia, Russia and Kazakhstan about how all men aged over 40 should have their prostate check for a disease that is one of the biggest killers of men. "Many of the motorcycling fraternity are gathering in little groups around the country tonight and having a good cry,'' Mr Higgs told AAP. "I spent a lot of time with him on the Australian leg of the trip and he was an effervescent guy, very lucky with the ladies, a good-looking, happy-go-lucky lad. "The trip was nearly finished and he was a very careful, conservative rider. We don't understand what happened but the gods of chance are unforgiving when they gather against you.'' Mr Buckley revealed in his last post on his and Mr Barry's RideRightRound website that his laptop computer had been stolen from the hostel he was staying at on the day of his death. "Bad news, today someone decided that they needed my computer more than I do,'' he wrote. The one-time army reservist had begun a Masters degree of Tourism at Monash University. Charity world motorbike rider Simon Buckley, 32, dies | News.com.au http://www.riderightround.org/ RideRightRound for Prostate Cancer Awareness...do it for the boys | Facebook |
Jeez
Sorry to hear about this.
I had some contact with these guys during their planning stages. Sad news indeed |
Ouch! Met Simon and Todd in the middle of Mongolia last year, we were stopped by the side of the "road" talking to them for quite a while along with a couple of aussies in a 4x4. They were really friendly blokes, and Simon was particularly enthusiastic about motorcycle travel.
|
Sad News
Very sad indeed! I met Simon in Melbourne where he lived. I was on my trip around the world when he saw our bikes standing in his neighbourhood and chatted us up. We had a nice evening talking about his future trip and we exchanged plenty of info. Followed his trip on the net while I was still cruising through Africa. Unfortunately he was earlier in Europe than me and so hadn't had to chance to meet a second time.
R.I.P. Simon. Message from his family:Claudio |
Ah, that's terrible...
Met him on the Baja/Mazatlan ferry in December. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/...3fff1af8_b.jpg |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 16:03. |