John Wilson, 30, was on his way to work when a truck allegedly veered onto the wrong side of Greendale-Trentham Road, crashing into his sedan on January 4. 

Paramedics arrived shortly afterwards but were unable to save him.

Mr Wilson, who was a mechanic, died at the scene, leaving behind his boy Logan, 2, and fiance, Teresa.

Rebecca Treadwell, who manages Springfields Garage in Ballan, said her colleague’s death has sent shock waves through the community.

“It’s my duty to find out what’s happened when someone doesn’t turn up to work, I rang John’s phone and it went straight to message bank that morning,” she said.

“I rang Teresa and said to her he may have broken down. She got in her car and came across the crash at the same time as police. It’s a really hard situation.”

But Teresa and Logan have plenty of friends in their corner.

Ms Treadwell helped organise an online auction with donated goods on Wednesday night and collection tins have been placed around Ballan.

A childhood friend of Mr Wilson’s, Laura Garner, also set up an online page to help raise funds for Teresa and Logan.

Ms Garner said Mr Wilson would do anything for his family and friends.

“He was the life of the party,” she said.

“It’s shocking to lose a friend, but the real tragedy is that he left behind a baby boy and a fiance.

“Logan won’t grow up with a father.”

To help, head to chuffed.org/project/support-teresa-and-logan