FIGHTER’S DREAMS END IN TRAGEDY

TRAVIS KILLED DAYS BEFORE FIRST BOUT

TRAVIS Wharton had the world at his feet.

The 20-year-old Mount Tamborine local had a new girlfriend, a new job and was days away from fighting in his first XFC fight when tragedy struck.

Travis had only had his licence for two weeks when he veered into oncoming traffic on Waterford-Tamborine Rd last Wednesday and clipped the side of a ute.

The impact flipped the ute and crushed the right side of his car, killing him instantly.

Devastated mum Shelley McCammon said Travis had just started to “come into his own” and she was proud of the young man he was becoming.

“He was a good kid, anyone you speak to will tell you he was loyal, hardworking and trustworthy – as a mother, hearing that feedback makes me beam with pride,” she he said.

“Travis was the kind of kid who got really passionate about things, he never shut up and always spoke a thousand miles an hour.

“Obviously now I understand he had to get 80 years of words out in 20.

“He was very passionate about his fighting, but I never went to watch, he would always ask, but I didn’t bring him into this world to see him have the crap beaten out of him.

“He touched a lot of people in the fighting world, there are a lot of people hurting after his death ...

“I am opening my door to his friends, I want them to have someone to talk to.”

Travis is one of six boys and he grew up under a strict hand, one his mum doesn’t regret.

“I have always taught my boys to have respect, to work for their money and to pay t their own way,” she said. “Travis was starting to get there, he was getting to the age where it was starting t to click. “I don’t know what happened p that day ... I guess I p probably never will, but it shouldh be a strong message to young drivers, to make sure they are aware of distractions in the car.” On Saturday night Travis’s dad went to the XFC fight at the Logan Metro Sports Centre where the fighter Travis was due to fight won his bout and gave his belt to the family – for Travis.

“We will put it with him at his burial on Thursday,” Ms McCammon said.

Flatmate and close friend Jamal Alder said Travis was his “bro” and it would be hard to continue without him.

“We were so close, he told me everything and we did everything together,” he said.

“Travis really wanted to win on Saturday night, if he did he was going to ask for a rematch with a guy he lost against a while back. But if he lost, he said he wanted to give it away, to become a DJ.

“He always fought for his dreams. Fight to Live was our motto, he had so much he wanted to do, it’s really hard that he’s not here.”

Travis’s life will be celebrated tomorrow at a funeral service at the Beenleigh Baptist Church at 10am.

Mourners will be invited to write a message on his coffin, or write a letter to be buried with him.