‘A legend’: Young dad remembered after fatal motorcycle accident on WA beach

A 25-year-old father of two girls who was killed while riding an off-road motorcycle on a beach three days before Christmas has been remembered as a “mentor”, “friend” and a “humble man”.

Elijah Kelly was riding on Nanarup Beach, near Albany, just before 8pm on Sunday when he was involved in a crash. He died at the scene.

Family and friends are raising money for Kelly’s partner and children to “help alleviate some of the financial burdens they face and ensure that Elijah’s girls are taken care of”.

Kelly has been described as “a street king, a wheelie king, a legend, a mentor, a friend, a humble man, the best brothers, a respectful son, a great, if not one of the best fathers on this earth”.

His death came on the same day as two other crashes on WA roads claimed the lives of a motorcycle rider in Canning Vale and the 31-year-old male passenger of a car that hit a tree in the Wheatbelt.

It launched a grim start to the Christmas season that continued with a serious head-on collision involving two cars in Perth’s east on Christmas Day.

That incident involved a grey Toyota Corolla hatchback and a silver Hyundai Santa Fe station wagon that collided on Great Eastern Highway, near Old York Road in Greenmount, when one vehicle crossed over to the wrong side of the busy highway.

Two women aged 45 and 48, each a passenger in one of the vehicles, were taken by ambulance to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries.

The 48-year-old male driver of the Santa Fe and two other passengers aged 17 and 10 were taken to hospital with serious injuries. The 46-year-old male driver of the Toyota Corolla sustained minor injuries.

One passenger was trapped for more than an hour as firefighters used the jaws of life to pry people from the wreckage.

The highway eastbound was closed until late in the evening.

On Boxing Day, first responders were called to three separate car crashes, including one where a 63-year-old man ploughed through a railing and into the Collie River. He received critical injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment.

Earlier that morning, two cars collided on Brookton-Corrigin Road in the Wheatbelt. It left a 51-year-old man dead and his 16-year-old passenger in hospital.

The occupants of the other vehicle, a Mitsubishi Pajero, were also taken to hospital for treatment, including the 39-year-old male driver, a 40-year-old female passenger and two young boys.

Later that night a 17-year-old girl had to be flown to hospital after receiving critical injuries when the car she was a passenger in hit a tree after its driver was allegedly doing burnouts and “driving in a reckless manner”.

Police said the 24-year-old South Bolder man had been charged over the incident and was due to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.

Police alleged he was driving a Ford Falcon Sedan with two 17-year-old passengers when he lost control of the vehicle on Doys Road in Wundowie.

He was charged with dangerous driving in circumstances of aggravation and no authority to drive.

Police ask that anyone with information about any of the fatal crashes to contact Crime Stoppers
on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperswa.com.au.

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