A Western Australian tradie has died while wingsuit BASE jumping in Italy, his heartbroken family says.
Ben Dummett, 25, slammed into a mountain while BASE jumping with friends in the northern Italian province of Trentino on Monday, the Seven Network reports.
His father, Simon Dummett, says his son died doing what he loved the most.
He would jump off anything, anywhere, at any time of the day or night,’ he told Seven on Friday.
Western Australian tradie, Simon Dummett (above), died after he slammed into a mountain while BASE jumping with friends in Italy on Monday
‘The chance of getting that phone call in the middle of the night was always a very real, very real thing and, unfortunately, it did happen.’
‘You can wrap your kids up in cotton wool but at the end of the day they are who they are and you wouldn’t have stopped Ben doing what he loved doing.’
Mr Dummett’s parents and brother have flown to Italy to bring him home.
‘Fly free my brother, you’ll be missed like you wouldn’t believe,’ Jordan Dummett wrote on Facebook on Friday.
His father, Simon Dummett, says his son died doing what he loved the most: ‘He would jump off anything, anywhere, at any time of the day or night,’ he said
On Thursday, Jordan thanked friends for their support during the family’s difficult time.
‘Just an update for everyone asking. We have just flown into Italy and are now driving an hour up to Lavis to where Ben is, to continue getting everything sorted to bring him and his things home.
‘Thank you again for all the support.’
Ben had been travelling and BASE jumping around Europe for the past few months with friends.
Tributes have flooded the daredevil’s Facebook page; his brother, Jordan, writing: ‘Fly free my brother, you’ll be missed like you wouldn’t believe’
A friend that was jumping with him on Monday was injured when the flagging winds forced him into the side of a mountain.
Mr Drummett spent months in a wheelchair in 2012 after he fractured both ankles and a bone in his spine after a he fell heavily during a skydive in Queensland.
But even then, his love for adventure never ceased, with a friend writing on Facebook he managed to pull off the ‘funniest things in a wheelchair.’
Ben had been travelling and BASE jumping around Europe for the past few months with friends
Mr Dummett was from Mandurah, south of Perth, and worked at Bouvard Marine.
In a statement, the company said he ‘will be remembered as a top-class tradesman, friend, extreme sportsman and comedian’.
BASE is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth – the four categories of fixed objects people can jump off.
A friend that was jumping with him on Monday was injured when the flagging winds forced him into the side of a mountain