Jack Gordon (right), who died following a cycling accident, with wife Gemma, Quinn, 4, and Mia, 6 months.
Jack Gordon (right), who died following a cycling accident, with wife Gemma, Quinn, 4, and Mia, 6 months.
Jack Gordon, 37, died after a cycling accident on Calliope Rd, Stanley Point.
His wife, Gemma, plans to keep his memory alive for their two young children.
A Givealittle page has raised nearly $10,000 to support Gemma and the kids.
The wife of a cyclist killed in a cycling accident in Auckland is devastated and plans to keep her husband’s spirit and memory alive for their two young children.
Jack Gordon’s life support was turned off on Sunday, two days after a bike crash on Calliope Rd in Stanley Point.
The 37-year-old from Forrest Hill was on a bike ride on the first day of his Christmas holiday before he planned to meet his wife Gemma for lunch when the tragedy occurred.
“Devastated is an understatement,” Gemma Gordon wrote on social media.
“My person. My Jack. Yesterday we said goodbye to you from this Earth.
Gemma (left) and Jack Gordon (right) with their son Quinn, 4, in front of the Christmas tree at Aotea Square, Auckland.
“You were taken away from us doing one of the many activities you love - cycling around the Shore. But how I wish I could rewind Friday so I could hug you one last time and never let you go. We are lost. We are broken. We can’t imagine the days, months and years without you.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a more loving and supportive husband to do life with. You were truly our rock.”
Gemma hopes to collectively help keep Jack’s spirit and memory alive for their two young children, Quinn, 4, and Mia, 6 months.
“Let’s continue to talk about him and share stories so they can know how incredibly caring, ambitious, cheerful, warm-hearted, and full of life their Daddy was,” she wrote.
Jack’s mother, Carol Gordon, said her son was riding down Calliope Rd, lost control, flew off the bike, and hit his head on one of a row of scoria rocks placed on the side of the footpath to stop cars driving on the grass by the beach. He was wearing a helmet, she said.
Jack Gordon with his baby Mia, who was 6 months old when he died.
“It was such a freaky accident.
“He broke his neck and where he broke his neck he fractured his second vertebrae ... the doctor told us he suffered non-survivable injuries,” she said.
Police said there were no other vehicles involved in the crash and they are investigating the circumstances of the crash.
“It’s not fair. He has got a 4-year-old and a 6-month-old, they are beautiful little children, and lovely wife. It’s just devastating,” his mother told the Herald.
Carol said the family is very close and always gets together for Christmas, saying family members were at her sister’s property in Kumeu the previous Sunday where she took a group photo.
“Jack was there with his big smile, holding his little baby, it’s so sad,” said Carol Gordon, bursting into tears.
Gemma (left) and Jack Gordon (right), who died after a cycling accident.
She described her son, who worked in finance, as a sensitive soul, with a huge smile, a bit loud, and very personable.
“He loved the water. He was a surfer. Surfing was his passion. Riding wasn’t his number one thing. He wasn’t a lycra cyclist. He would tootle around for exercise.”
Carol believes her son turned into Calliope Rd for family reasons, instead of going on his normal route around Mt Victoria in Devonport.
She did not know for sure but believed Jack, who missed the 50th anniversary of the death of his grandfather on November 12, went to see the family house in Stanley Bay.
Asked about plans for Christmas Day, Carol said Jack and Gemma’s two children and Jack’s sister’s two children, will be the focus.
“They will cheer us up,” she said.
A Givealittle page has been set up to raise $20,000 to support Gemma and her children rebuild their lives. So far, nearly $10,000 has been raised.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
