Still learning to drive and working towards becoming a PE teacher, Ben Austin was a miracle baby who made every second of his 17 years on earth count.
His heartbroken family and friends are still in shock that a young man so full of promise never came home from cricket training after a freak accident in which he was struck in the neck by a ball.
Hundreds of mourners in football and cricket guernseys packed grandstands at Junction Oval in Melbourne for his funeral, tears streaming down their faces.
A talented young athlete, Ben’s life revolved around sport and the year 11 student had his sights set on becoming a physical education teacher and AFL boundary umpire.
His parents Jace and Tracey remembered their firstborn as an endless source of pride and love, a cheeky boy who was their entire world.
“Most people count their years, but you made your years count,” Mr Austin said at Thursday’s ceremony.
“Thanks for choosing mum and me to come on your tour, what a tour it was.
“Great knock Benny, well played son.”
Ben was batting in the nets in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne’s east, on October 30 when he was struck in the neck with a ball.
He was wearing a helmet at the time and the bowler was using a “wanger” – a plastic instrument used to sling a ball, witnesses said.
Mr Austin described it as a tragic accident which was no one’s fault, encouraging his son’s mates to continue playing cricket.
Tracey Austin thanked her “darling boy” for making her a mother after she was told she wouldn’t be able to have children.
“How do I do life without you? This is just like a bad dream that I can’t wake up from,” she said in a tribute read by a family friend.
Ben always put others’ interests above his own and would never be forgotten, friend Hudson Reid said.
Mate Cooper Wood described him as more of a brother than a friend.
“Loyal, funny, caring and always there when you needed him, he had a way of making you feel like you mattered,” he said.
Ben loved to watch cricket at Junction Oval but never got to play on the field.
Instead his hearse completed a lap around the ground in his honour before he was laid to rest at a private burial.
A Collingwood tragic, Ben’s coffin was emblazoned with the AFL club’s logo and a premiership cup was also on display at the service.
A ripple of laughter erupted at the end of the solemn funeral as mourners were asked to sing the Pies song, instantly lifting the mood and bring a smile to grieving faces.
Family friends and coaches described him as the heart of his teams and, despite his competitive nature, someone who never hesitated to help anyone else out.
“The siren has gone, the stumps are drawn, but Ben, your spirit still plays on,” friends said in a poem.
