Her son Nathan never missed checking in with his mum on a daily basis.

But her phone remains silent – as did authorities when Mr Deacon was involved in a horrific car accident in November last year.

After living in Warrnambool with his mother for several months, Mr Deacon moved to Queensland to find work.

He settled down in Mackay and, according to Ms Deacon, was determined to get his life on track.

The 30-year-old was “a rebel without a cause”, according to his mother, but had vowed to find ongoing employment and turn his life around.

“He had been through a lot but he just wanted to turn his life around,” Mrs Deacon said.

“He was the happiest he had been in a long time.”

Mr Deacon was travelling from Mackay to Cairns following up a job lead when he received a call advising him he had been successful in gaining employment at a mine.

This prompted him to turn around and head back to Mackay.

Sadly, he would never make it to Mackay and would never start his first day in the job that could have changed his life forever.

Mr Deacon was involved in a horrific car accident south of Townsville at Guthalungra about 9pm on November 3 in 2017.

He was taken to Bowen hospital and later airlifted to Townsville hospital in a critical condition. He died at 4am. But Mrs Deacon and her son’s friends in Queensland were denied the chance to say their final goodbyes.

“I’m broken hearted my son died on his own,” Mrs Deacon said.

“It will haunt me forever.”

Mrs Deacon received a devastating phone call on the night of the accident. A friend of Nathan’s had watched a news report about the accident and thought she recognised Nathan’s car.

In a panic, Mrs Deacon rang Townsville police and the Townsville hospital. She was desperate for answers.

“We rang Townsville police station but they wouldn’t tell us anything,” Mrs Deacon said.

She was later told that authorities could not find her son’s phone, but had his licence with his home address.

Mr Deacon’s housemate was notified of his friend’s death at 6am, nine hours after the accident.

At 3pm that day Mrs Deacon had a knock on the door of her Warrnambool home.

Victoria Police officers confirmed her fears that her son had died in the accident.

Mrs Deacon is devastated by the death of her son, who was more like a best friend.

On the night of the accident, Mrs Deacon didn’t stop ringing her son’s phone.

When he didn’t answer her intuition told her that he was gone.

Now Mrs Deacon wants answers.

But her attempts have – so far – fallen on deaf ears.

“I want to know why I wasn’t contacted,” she said.

“They had his licence and his address and they didn’t go to his home until 6am when he was dead.

“Someone could have been there.”

Mrs Deacon said she and her daughters had sought answers from Queensland Police about why they weren’t contacted until 18 hours after the accident.

They also want to know whether there has been an investigation into the cause of the accident.

“We’re all shattered,” she said.

“I don’t know what happened to my son – was it a fault with the car or did he hit a kangaroo? We don’t know.”

Mrs Deacon said she is unable to move on and needs closure about her son’s death.

In addition to the delay in notification about the accident, Mrs Deacon said she not allowed to see her son’s body for several days when she travelled to Townsville.

“I told them ‘I’ve just come all the way from Victoria and I need to touch my son, I need to tell him I love him,” Mrs Deacon said.

She said she was hoping and praying the police and hospital had got it wrong.

But her worst fears were realised when she was finally allowed to see his body.

Not a day passes when Mrs Deacon doesn’t think about her son, who she describes as the “class clown”.

“He just loved life,” Mrs Deacon said.

She said he loved sport and was a talented artist – playing drums and music and was an “excellent drawer”.

Above all, he loved his family.

Mrs Deacon was a single mum and growing up Mr Deacon was “the man of the house”.

He was never too proud to give his mum a kiss and cuddle in public and tell her he loved her.

“He rang me every single day – that’s what hurts the most – I keep looking at my phone waiting for it to ring,” she said.

“He was really positive and every day he would tell me how much he loved me.”

Mrs Deacon said she hopes her son knows she would have done anything to be by his side in the final hours of his life.

“I would go to the ends of the earth for my kids,” she said.

Queensland’s Liberal National Party Shadow Police Minister Trevor Watts said the tragic death highlighted how important police notification processes were.

“This mother was denied the opportunity to see her injured son before he passed away,” Mr Watts said.

“She deserves answers as to why that happened.”

A Queensland Police spokesman said police had difficulty identifying Mr Deacon’s next-of-kin in the hours after his death.

“Further details surrounding the circumstances of this matter are currently being sought,” the spokesman said.