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EXCLUSIVE: Glastonbury mom mourns loss of son who died in crash Sunday

18-year-old Gordon "Mac" Southby was riding his motorcycle Sunday when he and an SUV got into an accident on Hebron Avenue.

GLASTONBURY, Conn. — A Glastonbury mom is morning the loss of her 18-year-old son Gordon "Mac" Southby who died Sunday when the motorcycle he was riding was involved in a collision with an SUV.

Police say the crash happened just before 7 p.m. on Hebron Avenue in Glastonbury near the Route 2 on-ramp. Andra Spencer, 15, was in the SUV and also died in the crash. She was a student at Bacon Academy in Colchester. State and Glastonbury Police are investigating what happened.

RELATED: Glastonbury police say 2 teens killed in SUV, motorcycle crash

Veronica Southby, Mac's mother, says Mac went to grab food Sunday evening. A couple of hours later, she received a call from the hospital.

"I’m led, not to a room number, but the conference room, which is always very bad news. And I just said, 'Dead or alive?' and I wasn’t expecting the doctor to say, 'Mac is dead,'" she said. "There was the three-word sentence that just changed my whole life."

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She said she held her son. Even though he was dead, she says he still had life in him.

Credit: Veronica Southby
18-year-old Gordon "Mac" Southby died Sunday in a vehicle crash in Glastonbury.

"I just sensed as I spoke to him, his soul and spirit hadn’t traveled far," the mom said. "I do believe he heard me say 'I love you' one more time for the millionth time and how sorry I was for all the corrections that you gave a young 18-year-old boy."

His 17-year-old brother Augie came to see him as well. The family will bury him next to his father, who passed away in 2019, next week.

RELATED: Plainville man killed in Southington crash

Veronica says her son was a natural-born mechanic who loved working on motorcycles and dirt bikes. She lost track of how many bikes he built. The work of the Glastonbury High senior sits on their driveway.

Credit: FOX61
Veronica Southby says her son, Mac, loved working and building motorcycles and dirt bikes.

"If man could make a washing machine fly, my boy would be the one to pull it off," she said. "My car broke. Don’t call anyone, just call Mac."

He wanted to be in the Navy.

"Mac was very intelligent and charismatic, and will be greatly missed. We have Mac's family and friends in our thoughts as they process this devastating loss," Glastonbury school officials said Monday to the district.

The Monday after he died, friends of Mac came to his house to set candles on his front steps. Veronica says it was the most beautiful thing Mac ever created.

"Everyone who he had touched, who he had helped, who he had outfitted a bike, rode with, had a great time with they all showed up," she said. "He attracted the best of people because he was the best of humanity."

Credit: FOX61
Candles sit on the front porch of the home of 18-year-old Gordon "Mac" Southby who died Sunday in a vehicle collision.

She went to the site where it happened Monday. She calls it 'holy ground' and took her shoes off, walking around picking up pieces of the motorcycle. She says the accident was stunning and tragic and prayed for the other family impacted as well. 

The clothes and helmet he was wearing Sunday lay in his room. The helmet is clearly damaged and the clothes are torn up. He was wearing his Eagle Scouts sweatshirt. Veronica says she continues to leave a lamp on in the room, not knowing why but she would do it so Mac could find his bed when he got home at night.

Credit: FOX61
The helmet 18-year-old Gordon "Mac" Southby was wearing during the accident Sunday sits on his bedroom desk.

Southby was arrested in January and May of this year and was issued reckless driving charges, according to court records.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call the Glastonbury Police Department at 860-633-8301.

Tony Black is a multi-media journalist at FOX61 News. He can be reached at tblack@fox61.com. Follow him on FacebookTwitter and Instagram

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