Whether representing Australia in cycling or teaching a young nephew to ride a skateboard, Woonona's David Williams gave his all.Tragically, the 36-year-old's thirst for life was cut short when he was killed in an horrific cycling accident on the M4 at South Penrith on Saturday.Mr Williams, a physical education teacher at Bossley Park High School, was riding west in the breakdown lane with three others when they were hit by a loaded, west-bound B-double truck which had allegedly drifted into the same lane at 7.40am.
Post tributes to Mr Williams here Mr Williams died instantly of massive injuries.Twenty-year-old Monique De Abreu, of Edensor Park, suffered head injuries and a broken arm and was yesterday in a serious condition in Nepean Hospital.Her brother Robert De Abreu, 27, a former student of Mr Williams, suffered a fractured vertebra and internal injuries and was in a satisfactory condition.Matthew La Motta, 24, from Bossley Park, suffered a broken arm and abrasions and was also in a satisfactory condition.After the truck hit the cycling group, Mr Williams was dragged beneath the truck for 100m, police said.The vehicle continued west down the highway for another 900m, allegedly weaving and smashing into crash barriers and taking a piece out of a light pole.Fragments of the four bicycles were scattered across the road and a single wheel had been hurled to the opposite side of the highway.Mr Williams was married to a high school maths teacher and they lived between homes in Woonona and Sydney.Brother Scott yesterday remembered Mr Williams as a loving family man who excelled at whatever sport he chose."He did well at all things. He has always been fit, always been into everything," he said.His greatest achievement was winning a silver medal in cycling while representing Australia at the Sydney 2009 World Masters Games last October.He was also part of the winning NSW team at a recent Oztag tournament at Coffs Harbour and was in training with the Australian Oztag team.Mr Williams said the group of cyclists was riding from Edensor Park to the Blue Mountains, supporting a team member who was practising for a charity ride for the Chris Riley Youth Off the Streets Program.''My brother would have gone out just to go for a good ride,'' he said.''If I wasn't on holidays, we would have been riding together.''Mr Williams described David as ''a great brother''.''He was devoted to his whole family, he was the best.''He was a jokester who loved playing games and was good with his nephews - he taught my son how to ride a skateboard.''Mr Williams grew up at Campbelltown and enjoyed family holidays at Bulli from a young age before relocating to Woonona about 12 years ago.He had been a member of the Lidcombe Auburn Cycle Club since 2007, president Michael Breen saying he was a popular and well-liked person.''The club is saddened by the tragic loss and our thoughts go out to David's family,'' he said.''Even though he'd only been a member of the club for a short time, he's known a lot of the members longer than that so there's a lot of sad people within the club and within the cycling community in general.''The truck driver involved in Saturday's accident, a 27-year-old man from Glenmore Park, was taken to hospital in shock.Police said the company for which the truck driver worked, Penrith Soil and Sand, was involved in a fatal road accident two weeks ago on the M7 motorway.Mr William's death is the second involving an Illawarra list in the past five months. Kiama triathlete Jason Stortz, 39, was killed after being hit by a motorist on October 17 while cycling at Yallah, while preparing for an ironman event.Meantime, Illawarra triathlete Jessica Simpson, 21, was seriously injured when her bike and a car collided during a training ride at Primbee on September 30.She was due to compete at the World Half Ironman Championships in Florida in a matter of weeks.
