Stewart Orme, who died after falling from his motorcycle on Tidbinbilla road, was a cautious and experienced motorcyclist who loved riding his bike in the region with friends, loved ones say.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 23-year-old from Kaleen died in Canberra Hospital with serious head injuries on Sunday night, just days before his birthday.
He had been riding his Yamaha near the Point Hut Crossing intersection with a friend late on Saturday when he allegedly lost control on a gentle right-hand bend.
It is the first ACT road fatality in more than a year.
Mr Orme leaves behind his father, mother and three siblings. He was planning to marry his girlfriend, an international student from China.
Family and friends gathered at the hospital yesterday as Mr Orme's organs were donated to those in need.
''He did more in 23 years than most people will ever do in a lifetime,'' his father, Stephen Orme, said. ''Nothing was too much for him - he did the most amazing things for people.''
Mr Orme was a devoted member of the Alliance Church Calwell. He had been on two mission trips to Uganda. He was also about to finish his gas fitting and plumbing apprenticeship, which he did while studying theology.
His friends remember him as a ''special person'' who always ''gave of himself'' and put others first.
Briony Kaczmarek, who spent six months in Uganda with Mr Orme, said: ''Upon hearing about a school for deaf children in Uganda that couldn't pay their rent, Stewart contributed money so that the school could continue operating. He also sponsored a child in Uganda.''
Daniel Crow said his friend and former roommate was devoted to his faith. He recently heard Mr Orme give one of his first sermons at a local church, and said he was on the verge of ''bigger and better things''.
His fondest memory of Mr Orme was when he bought his first trail bike. Riding, Mr Crow said, was one of Mr Orme's passions.
''It was a very, very loud trail bike with a ridiculous exhaust,'' Mr Crow said. ''We got a complaint from the neighbour about the bike's noise at 5.30am.
''Instead of stopping riding he got up every morning during Canberra's freezing cold winter to push his trail bike up a very steep 30-40 metre driveway just so he could ride it to work without waking the neighbours.''
Mr Crow said the fatal motorcycle accident over the weekend was a freak accident that could have happened to anyone.
''It was just a multitude of bad luck - hitting a pothole at the wrong moment and then veering off the road. It just so happened where he did veer off the road there was something there and he ran into it.''
The last fatality on ACT's roads was in March last year, when an 18-year-old motorcyclist died from injuries sustained in an Isabella Plains accident.
The death came at the end of a horror month for the territory which included four deaths in less than three weeks. ACT Policing's Sergeant Rod Anderson said yesterday: ''We recognise that there's a certain demographic, a certain age of people who are more susceptible to be involved in collisions.
''We remind people of the need to wear proper protective equipment when they're riding motorcycles. They are a vulnerable road user and we ask them to be careful on the roads - obey the speed limits, obey the road rules.''
Motorcyclists accounted for half of the ACT's six road deaths in 2011, and one in three of the 2010 fatalities.