Tom Harris: Naval Base crash victim remembered as ‘larger than life’ by shattered family

The young motorcyclist who died in a crash with a courier van at Naval Base has been remembered by his shattered family as being “larger than life”. Tom Harris died after the motorbike he was riding collided with a white van on Hope Valley Road about 10am on Thursday. Staff from several businesses — including students from the nearby TAFE campus — ran to the horrific scene as they tried to save the 25-year-old. Mr Harris died at the scene. In a heart-breaking post on Facebook, Mr Harris’ brother James paid tribute to his brother. “Yesterday (Thursday) morning, my 25-year-old brother, Tom, was in a motorcycle accident. It is completely harrowing to say that the family of 13 has now become of 12, and I’ve lost one of my siblings,” he posted. “Tom was always the wittiest, most talkative, entertaining and friendliest one of the family: a true life of the party. “Our family is completely shattered. Tom will be sorely missed and I am devastated some of you will never get to meet him, as words cannot do justice to the person we have just lost. “Rest in peace Tommy.” Another brother, Rob, said Mr Harris was “larger than life and always had something to say”. “He has left me lost for words and in a state of devastation,” he said. The driver of the van, a man in his 30s, was not hurt and colleagues were seen supporting him at the crash site. CCTV footage obtained by The West Australian shows a truck pulling up to the crash moments after the collision, with the driver giving first aid. Taylor’s Engineering & Welding general manager Mark Demeza spoke of the confronting scenes he saw from his office window before his staff went to help. “My first concern is that we actually dropped some sort of load or dropped something in our workshop because it was quite a large sound,” Mr Demeza said. “Then I looked around and saw the motorbike just come to rest. “Some of our guys went out there and assisted with a defibrillator ... they were working on the guy for a fair bit but there wasn’t much we could do.” Mr Demeza said he would send out a company-wide email following the incident, urging his staff to “hug their loved ones” and stay safe on the roads. Major crash detectives are investigating. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.