Just over a year ago motocross star Joel Evans was involved in a tragic crash that took his life.
At the time of his death, Michaela Evans was pregnant with their now seven-month-old son.
The couple lived together in Queensland and were preparing for their next stages in life together, before that was cruelly snatched away from them.
Michaela was actually in the stands on that fateful day, cheering on the 30-year-old professional motocross rider as he competed at the ProMX Championship.
And now she has opened up on her life with her son and how baby Freddy has in helped her carry on without her fiance, ‘He’s actually so much like his dad,’ she said.
‘It’s crazy to see, even when they’ve never met. Just the same kind of cool nature, same hairline and the same nose scrunch when he laughs.
‘He’s just my little sidekick. It’s special knowing that he is Joel’s and part of Joel.
Michaela Evans was pregnant with baby Freddy when Joel tragically passed away following a motocross accident
The pair were engaged at the time of the accident and preparing to embark on the next stage of their relationship
Michaela went on to say she is aiming to raise Freddy to continue Joel’s legacy of compassion and generosity
‘That is why I’ve been OK. And it’s why I had to keep going – had to eat and … get back to reality and go to doctor appointments.’
While Michaela has said that her son is the reason she was okay, she also admitted that raising him without Joel has been harder than she first imagined, ‘You are constantly floating between two realities at the same moment – such as a first with Freddy, the first kick, the first night home, the first smile,’ she said.
‘One moment you are overjoyed whilst also feeling the pain that comes with Joel not being here for it.’
But she said she hoped to instil all the things she loved most about Joel into their baby boy.
‘Joel was genuinely the kindest person and would talk to anybody,’ she said.
‘He would go out of his way to help anybody. You’d be mid conversation with him and he would just suddenly run away because he noticed someone had dropped something and he needed to give it back to them or someone needed help carrying a bag or opening the door.’
Michaela is also keen to raise Freddy in her late fiance’s image, taking his last name after Joel died, ‘There was no thought really required. We were engaged to be married. That was going to happen,’ she said
‘And I wanted to have his last name before I gave birth to Freddy and have both our names as Evans on the birth certificate.
‘It was a very important thing, preserving the memory, and it’s just living the life that we were always going to live.’
Joel’s YouTube channel where he documented his motocross career has also been a blessing for Michaela and Freddy.
It provides his son with a place to watch his late father and see how he really was, ‘
We are lucky that we do have all these YouTube videos so (Freddy) does get a sense of his dad and what he was actually like,’ she said.
‘It is through the videos, the memories and continuing to talk about him that Freddy will grow up knowing the incredible man that his dad is.’
On the anniversary of Joel’s death, Ms Evans created a hashtag on social media #VlogforJoel encouraging people to chase their dreams and tell their stories.
‘Joel took a chance starting to vlog and making the videos, and I just wanted more people getting out of their comfort zone, having a go at that, and if that leads to someone getting an opportunity, or even create some memories, that’s just an incredible thing.’ she said.
‘He did a lot in 30 years and he lived an incredible life and that’s brought us all a lot of peace knowing that he was just living life to the fullest and he was the happiest and we were the happiest that we’ve ever been.’
Michaela aims to keep Joel’s legacy going by creating an award that could be used to support someone else’s journey.
