James Merrick was working hard to renovate his southwestern Sydney home for his growing family when the unthinkable happened.
The young builder was using an air powered nail gun at his Camden home, on July 2, when it accidentally shot into his face.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Group of mates to run 100km each in memory of friend.
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“Unfortunately, the air went through his eye and into his brain and created brain damage … almost instantly,” his best friend Blake McCrossen told 7NEWS.com.au.
“He was taken into the ICU for a number of days, and it was incurable, and he was then presumed dead.“
Merrick, who ran a construction business in Camden, had been renovating his home to include a granny flat when the tragedy unfolded.
His pregnant wife and their two-year-old son were left without their father, and husband, who they deemed their “hero”.
McCrossen, who has been Merrick’s best mate since they were 15, says while the family are “holding up well” their grief at times can be “overwhelming”.
“His twin brother, my other best mate, says any given day is hard, but there are some days it gets the better of him, and he can’t get out of bed,” he said.
Merrick’s wife Rachel has now been left with the unimaginable task of bring up two kids on her own.
“For anyone … you look at it and think: ‘How is that possible to stay strong in that situation?” McCrossen said.
Merrick’s family are no stranger to tragedy, however, having lost their dad to cancer just three years ago.
“It’s all just completely incomprehensible,” McCrossen said.
“They’ve got years of hell … they’re putting on brave faces, and they are trying to stay strong.”
‘A good bloke’
Blake says his best friend was the kind of person who would “do anything for anyone”.
“He always wanted to help a mate out,” he said.
“He was a builder, so he was always helping out family and friends … he was the first one to get up and go out and lend a hand.
“He was just a good bloke.”
Merrick was the type of guy, who “always wanted to be around his mates”, McCrossen added.
“We were all so close … he was always going out with mates … surfing or on the boat or just having a drink at the pub,” he said.
“He always wanted his mates around.”
Community event
In the wake of tragedy, McCrossen and his friends made the decision to do something that would involve their entire heartbroken community and help out Rachel and her family.
“We wanted to give back to him … and get out there and help him finish off his dream house,” McCrossen said.
However, without Merrick and his equipment and materials, they faced an uphill battle.
So they decided to organise a charity event to get everyone together and help raise some money.
“We put this initiative together to raise some money to help with the financial burden of losing a husband and father,” McCrossen said.
Merrick’s friends have set an incredible challenge — to run 100km between them within 21 hours.
“We don’t need to be athletes … we just want to get out there because that’s what he would do… he’d say c’mon lets go for it … that’s just the person he was,” McCrossen said.
The event is set to run on October 19 – 20 at Narellan Sports hub.
