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'Fly high, fly free': Emotional farewell to father and son killed in gyrocopter crash


A Western Australian mother who lost her husband and only child in a tragic gyrocopter crash has been left utterly devastated.

Fiona Waughman says there are no words to describe the life-altering tragedy.

On Tuesday, she was joined by hundreds of mourners to honour the memory of her husband and son.

Heartbreakingly, the final text Fiona sent to the pair read: “I hope you have an awesome day flying and I can’t wait to see you both.”

On Tuesday, Fiona Waughman was joined by hundreds of mourners to honour the memory of her husband and son, with whom she is pictured at right. Source: 7News
On Tuesday, Fiona Waughman was joined by hundreds of mourners to honour the memory of her husband and son, with whom she is pictured at right. Source: 7News

Just hours later, her husband Robert, 51, and son James, 18, were dead after the gyrocopter crashed near Capel.

“This life-altering tragedy has left me reeling and I’m unsure of life right now,” Fiona said in a statement read out at the funeral.

Robert and James Waughman lived life together at full speed.

The pair’s gyrocopter crashed on a remote stretch off the shoreline at Forrest Beach, between Capel and Busselton, on February 6. Source: 7News
The pair’s gyrocopter crashed on a remote stretch off the shoreline at Forrest Beach, between Capel and Busselton, on February 6. Source: 7News

Robert’s brother David said the father and son shared a bond and were both passionate about flying.

The pair’s gyrocopter crashed on a remote stretch off the shoreline at Forrest Beach, between Capel and Busselton, on February 6.

“Fly high, fly free,” Robert’s sister Liz Thomson said in an emotional tribute on Tuesday.

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