"He had the world at his feet": Tributes flow for popular man Dempsey Gascoigne, 21, after tragic accidental death

He was a kind, caring and fiercely loyal friend, a sport and music lover, incredibly smart and interesting but terrible at calling you back on the phone.

At just 21 years old Dempsey made a big impact on the lives of the people he met - as evidenced by the huge outpouring of comments and messages his family has received following his tragic death.

The popular Fingal Bay resident, the beloved son of former Maitland couple Jason and Amanda Gascoigne and younger brother to Callum, died in Canberra in the early hours of Friday, July 15 following an accidental fall from a balcony.

"The support enveloping us from everywhere is one of the things getting us through," Amanda said.

Dempsey was born in Newcastle's Christo Hospital on May 30, 2001. He arrived 14 months after his brother Callum.

The Gascoigne family lived in East Maitland, with Callum and Dempsey growing up watching dad Jason suit up for the Maitland Blacks Rugby Club, of which he was also president for many years.

Like many families who make the move to the Bay, it all started with a holiday home.

The Gascoigne family owned a two-bedroom unit at Little Beach. Each Friday Amanda and Jason would pick the boys up from school, St John the Baptist Primary in Maitland, and spend the weekend in Nelson Bay.

Then the boys enrolled in nippers at Fingal Bay and were training twice a week. After travelling so much between Maitland and Port Stephens, the decision was made one school holiday to make a permanent move to the Bay.

Callum and Dempsey attended St Michael's Primary School in Nelson Bay for two and three years before making the decision to go to St Joseph's College in Sydney.

The Gascoigne family are a tight unit.

Jason and Amanda would regularly make the trip to Sydney to see Callum and Dempsey at boarding school, never missed a milestone and any club the boys were involved with, Jason and Amanda were on the sidelines volunteering.

"We take comfort in knowing that we did so much with Dempsey in those 21 years - the time we spent as family," Amanda said.

"We've done everything together. Jason and I have been to everything - every school event, all the sporting events, as a family.

"That's giving us a lot of solace and comfort knowing we haven't missed out on any of those special moments. You have to treasure every single moment because you just never know."

There has been an outpouring of love for Dempsey and the Gascoigne family through their school and sporting connections, in particular rugby union.

Dempsey played rugby union for the Nelson Bay Gropers between under-10s and under-18s. He returned home from boarding school, where he also played rugby, to suit up for the Gropers when he was able.

He watched a Gropers game in May when he returned home for his 21^st birthday. Dempsey was also a keen fisherman, golfer and had found a love for skiing since living in Canberra.

Dempsey was studying political science and commerce, a double degree, at Australian National University but had not decided what career he was going to pursue.

He met and had been dating his girlfriend Haley Turner for 12 months while in the ACT.

While living in Canberra Dempsey worked at BentSpoke Brewing Co, a job that he got after working stints at Cheeky Dog in Soldiers Point, Murray's Brewery in Bobs Farm and BCF in Taylors Beach.

Jason said his son loved his job working behind the bar at the brewery, which closed immediately after learning of Dempsey's death. The brewery will hold a memorial for Dempsey and will livestream his funeral.

"For someone who worked a few shifts a week as a part-time employee, that's just a testament to the impact he had," Amanda said. "He had beautiful manners, he was very polite and so helpful."

Jason and Amanda received the knock on the door that no parent ever wants to receive at 4.45am on that Friday morning.

Local police were on their doorstep telling them that their youngest son Dempsey had fallen from a balcony in an apartment unit in Canberra and died.

"For the first hour we just sat here," Jason said. Amanda added: "We were in a state of just shock".

"Then we had to ring Callum," Jason said. Callum and his partner Charlotte drove to Fingal Bay from Sydney straight away.

Dempsey had been at a party until early morning on that Friday and returned to his girlfriend's unit, where some people kept drinking on the balcony.

It's understood that Dempsey went onto the balcony of the unit using a door that required him to climb over a lounge and air conditioning unit, something the Gascoigne family has been told he had done before. It was while he was climbing over the furniture that he slipped and fell from the balcony.

"It's always someone else's child this happens to, never your own," Jason said. "You hear these terrible stories and feel for them. But this is just not something you can imagine. I didn't think I'd have to be doing this. I thank god we have Callum."

Jason travelled to Canberra this week to collect Dempsey's belongings. They had already been packed in his car, as Dempsey was set to move into his new university accommodation.

Dempsey's life will be celebrated at St Joseph's Catholic Church, East Maitland on Friday, July 29 at 11am.

The funeral will be live streamed by the Fry Bros at: vimeo.com/732343695/4644873788.

The wake will be held afterwards at the Maitland rugby club.

In other news

Do you know you can subscribe to get full access to all Maitland Mercury stories? Subscribing supports us in our local news coverage. To subscribe, click here.