Monday morning started off like any other for the Vickery family, but ended with Fiona Vickery and her two children facing their first Christmas without their husband and father Wayne.
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The 45-year-old construction worker died on Monday afternoon, the victim of a workplace accident at a West McGregor building site.
At her Yass home yesterday, surrounded by family and friends, Mrs Vickery said that she and her children, 15-year-old Skye and 12-year-old Jay were still reeling from their sudden loss.
The widow recounted what seemed like a routine Monday morning with her husband leaving early for work as usual.
''He gets up before I do and leaves at six, he yelled at me to find his glasses and I yelled back, they're on the bench', that was our last conversation,'' Mrs Vickery said.
The Vickerys had been married for 17 years and were at the heart of the close-knit communities of his home town of Tumut and hers of Yass.
The family had been planning to spend Christmas as they usually did, with the holiday divided between being with relatives in Tumut and Yass.
''We always have a big Christmas here [in Yass], where I have a big family of about 30 people and then Boxing Day, we always went to Tumut,'' Mrs Vickery said.
''We usually go camping at Tumut, because Wayne only had a week shutdown and the kids will probably make sure that we do the same thing this year.''
Mr Vickery, a veteran of the building industry, died soon after being hit by a heavy grader at the building site on Monday afternoon while he was working for Canberra Contractors on a Village Building Company project
Mr Vickery's death has sparked a remarkable outpouring of generosity with the vast majority of workers on Canberra's building sites agreeing to contribute $50 each to a fund set up by the Construction, Forestry and Mining Union to help his family. The ACT Government has contributed $10,000, with Chief Minister Katy Gallagher saying yesterday the contribution was on behalf of the community, and the West Australian branch of the union has sent $5000.
Workplace safety authorities are still investigating the circumstances of the accident.
Mrs Vickery said yesterday the builder who was ''larger than life'' would be missed by a circle of friends and acquaintances beyond his family and close friends.
''He'd been with Canberra Contractors for about 12 years, before that, he used to travel a bit, but when Jay, our second, came along he thought he should be home with the kids.''
Mr Vickery's funeral will be held at 2pm on Monday at St Clement's Church Yass.
- CFMEU Vickery Family Appeal Commonwealth Bank of Australia BSB 062 900 Account Number 10741003
