Nathan Hearne’s Final Call to His Sister Before Fatal Mount Druitt Truck Tragedy

Nathan Hearne’s mother says her son’s death in a garbage truck tragedy in Western Sydney “could have been avoided” and is demanding answers about his final hours after he interacted with police twice before the fatal incident.

Hearne, a 22-year-old bar worker, was struck by a garbage truck outside a restaurant on Luxford Rd in Mount Druitt at about 2.20am on Thursday.

Paramedics tried desperately to save him, but he died at the scene.

For his mother, Leanne Whelan, the shock began before she even knew the victim was her own son.

“I didn’t want it confirmed”

Whelan said she first became alarmed after seeing a Facebook post showing sheets covering the scene of the tragedy. At the time, she did not realise Nathan was underneath them.

She later tried to contact her son before calling police. According to Whelan, officers would not provide information over the phone and instead told her someone would contact her.

That response immediately frightened her.

“I broke down when they said that they would be in contact. That, to me, basically told me, but in my mind, I didn’t want it confirmed,” Whelan said.

“I was trying to push it off because Nathan is 22, the report said he was 21.”

The family eventually received confirmation after Whelan’s partner went to the police station and a detective spoke with her by phone.

The news left Whelan devastated.

“(I felt) heartbreak, empty,” she said, struggling to hold back tears.

“I’ve lost my son. He’s my pain in the butt.

“I’m expecting him to ring me and ask me for 20 bucks to see what he’s cooking.”

“It just doesn’t feel like he isn’t here.”

His final call to his sister

Questions about what happened before the crash have now become central to a critical incident investigation.

Police have confirmed that Hearne attended the rear of Mount Druitt Police Station twice that evening and interacted with officers.

Whelan said her son, who had high-functioning autism, had been drinking with a friend and the friend’s girlfriend at a pub on Wednesday night.

She said a detective later told her Hearne had been “a bit aggressive” during his interactions with police.

Then, at about 1am, Hearne called his sister.

According to Whelan, he was “very agitated” during the call and told his sister that he was scared of police.

His mother now wants to know what happened after those interactions and whether more could have been done to keep her son safe.

“Where’s the duty of care?” she said.

“I want to know why you didn’t put him in a cell for the night or send him home or call someone.

“He could have been saved.”

Whelan said the family had been given very little information about the circumstances leading up to the fatal incident.

“All we’ve been told is that he was hit by a truck and that’s it,” she said.

“I’m ropable.

“I’ve lost my son at the cost of their ignorance, their arrogance.”

She also questioned why the family had to pursue police themselves to learn that Hearne had died.

“Why didn’t someone come to my door and tell me what had happened?” she said.

Police sources told 7NEWS that Hearne displayed no obvious signs of distress and that officers had advised him to go home.

A young man remembered for loving his family

Amid the unanswered questions, Whelan wants people to remember Nathan for who he was to his family — a larger-than-life young man who loved making people laugh.

“He liked to be loud. He liked to drink. He really liked his girlfriend. He liked the expensive colognes,” she said.

“He was a typical 22-year-old kid.”

Hearne worked at a bar and had previously worked in landscaping.

His mother said he was particularly devoted to his family and loved children.

“He loved everyone,” Whelan said.

“He loved his brothers. He was a big kid. He loved kids.

“Even from a young age, he’d go into a shopping centre and he’d be pulling faces at babies.”

That affection for his brothers was reflected in one of the most selfless things Hearne did before his death.

He donated bone marrow to his brother

Last year, Hearne became a bone marrow donor when his younger brother Stevie needed a transplant.

According to a GoFundMe campaign established to support the family, Stevie and another brother, Colton, have Familial Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis type 5 (FHL-5), an extremely rare inherited immune disorder.

When Stevie’s father became too unwell to donate bone marrow, Hearne stepped forward.

“He had the biggest heart,” Whelan said.

“He loved his brothers. Every time he was there, he wanted hugs.”

Stevie has responded well to the transplant, while Colton remains in hospital recovering from the same procedure.

Neither boy has yet been told that Nathan has died.

“The older two we’ve told. Stevie we haven’t told yet, and Colton is not well enough to be told yet,” Whelan said.

For Whelan, telling Nathan’s other siblings about his death has been among the most painful moments since the tragedy.

Investigation into the fatal incident

The 31-year-old garbage truck driver was not injured in the incident and was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.

A critical incident investigation team from Riverstone Police Area Command is investigating the circumstances surrounding Hearne’s death.

The investigation will also be independently reviewed by the NSW Police Professional Standards Command and overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.

As that investigation continues, Whelan is left grieving her son while seeking answers about the hours that preceded his death — including what happened after his interactions with police and his final call to his sister.