Support flows in for injured dogs
FRIENDS of a 78-year-old Kerang man killed in a car accident at Lake Boga on Tuesday have described him as a “happy-go-lucky” man of “great integrity and honour”.
Alan Webb sustained critical injuries when his car swerved on to the wrong side of the Murray Valley Highway and into the path of an oncoming truck at 11.40am Tuesday.
He succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The 50-year-old truck driver was flown to the Alfred hospital with serious injuries, while the passengers — a 48-year-old and five-year-old also from Kerang — escaped with minor injuries.
The 68-year-old driver of a third vehicle involved, a 4WD towing a trailer full of rescue dogs, sustained only minor injuries.
Mr Webb’s tragic death has left many within the Swan Hill and Kerang communities heartbroken, and tributes are flowing from friends, colleagues and neighbours.
Mr Webb was a livestock buyer for most of his long working life, also owning the Victoria Butchery in Kerang in the 1970s.
He began working at the Swan Hill Abattoirs 13 or 14 years ago after retiring from the saleyards.
Abattoirs employee Craig McQueen said he quickly became mates with all 250-or-so employees.
“Right from the word go he was a breath of fresh air for anyone who crossed his path,” he said.
“He was a man of great integrity and humour. He was a gentleman and a scholar and I have never heard anyone talk ill of Alan Webb.
“He wouldn’t have an enemy in the world and if he did he would have forgiven them.”
Mr McQueen said there was a deep sense of loss at the abattoirs.
“He will be sadly missed and everyone here is grateful to have been in his presence,” he said.
“The only thing you can take out of it is he died with his boots on and not in Alcheringa.”
Kerang stock agent Arthur Broad became friends with Mr Webb after coming to Kerang in 1972.
“I knew Webby very well; he was a great man,” he said.
“He had a happy-go-lucky nature and he always had a grin on his face. He was an excellent judge of livestock and that was back before liveweight sales so you had to judge the weights visually.”
Landmark agent Greg McNeil said in the ’60s and ’70s Mr Webb was well known as a buyer at saleyards across northern Victoria.
“He was fair to everyone and he was well liked and respected in the industry,” he said.
“He was well liked on both sides of the fence, with agents and producers and with the buying fraternity.
“He was just a decent person, Alan Webb.”
Neighbour Stuart McCurdy said Mr Webb was always willing to help those around him.
“He was a really nice bloke and a real gentleman; he’d do anything for anyone,” he said.
“I would often see him checking up on the elderly people in the court to see that they were okay.”
Mr McCurdy said Mr Webb was a generous but modest man, often bringing buckets of fruit home from Swan Hill for his neighbours.
“He was very quiet. He would often drop off a bucket of peaches or apricots to the people around here and he would knock on the door, leave the bucket and walk off,” he said.
Another neighbour described Mr Webb as “the most generous neighbour who ever existed”.
Investigations into the crash are underway and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
The 50-year-old truck driver was in a stable condition yesterday.
