Family's Plea For Caution
Newcastle Herald
Monday June 28, 1999
JASON Gibbs was hours away from achieving a dream when his car smashed into a power pole at Karuah, killing him instantly.
The 20-year-old Raymond Terrace man was driving to work on Friday, the last day of his floor and wall tiling apprenticeship, when he lost control of his vehicle in pouring rain.
The car skidded off the road and was torn in two by the impact.
Step-father Peter Robl said Jason had been looking forward to starting his own business.
`He had finished his apprenticeship training and Friday was his last day as an apprentice,' Mr Robl said.
`He wanted to have his own business one day and buy a nice house to have a family in.'
Jason's mother, Angela Robl, said Jason was her `special baby'.
`I was a single mother for a long time and Jason was my very special baby,' she said.
`I keep thinking he's gone surfing and any minute he's going to walk through the door, hang his wetsuit on the line and say "it was a good surf, mum", or "what's for tea, mum?",' she said.
Mr Robl said surfing was Jason's main love.
`He lived for surfing while he was still young,' he said.
`Later on he was going to buy a house near the beach and incorporate surfing into his working and family life.
`He would have turned 21 in August and rather than have a flashy party, he was saving up to go to Bali for a surfing holiday.'
Jason's girlfriend of three years, 21-year-old Donna Edwards, said he was well-known in the area and very popular.
`His friends are just absolutely devastated, he was Mr Popular,' she said.
`He was wonderfully affectionate and it's so hard to say goodbye, because he was such a good person.'
Jason's family pleaded with other young drivers to slow down and drive carefully.
`We just want boys to slow down in their cars,' Ms Edwards said.
`We want people to realise how dangerous the roads are and how quickly someone can be taken.'
© 1999 Newcastle Herald
