The family of a young man tragically killed in a horrific workplace incident in the Adelaide Hills knew something was wrong when he hadn’t returned home to complete Tuesday night’s census.
The next morning, just before 6am after still not hearing a word from 26-year-old labourer Josh Parkin, his dad Max decided to drive to the Charleston worksite where he was last seen.
It was there, among the foggy Wednesday morning haze, that Mr Parkin found his beloved son’s lifeless body, where it had remained all night.
“His dad went and found him,” Josh’s mum Tanya Thomson told The Advertiser. “I reckon for the next two hours, I was just walking around the house repeating the word ‘no’ – ‘no, no, no, no, no’.
“We’ve all been waiting to wake up from this nightmare for the last two days.
“Josh was empathetic to a fault. He had a fantastic work ethic, which ended up costing him his life. He was quirky, funny, loving. He just loved people – he would give anyone the shirt off his back.”
Only a few months ago, in April, Josh married his high school sweetheart Mekayla Jane – with the two almost inseparable since meeting when they were both 15.
On Tuesday, he left for work like any other day, but sadly never returned home.
By Wednesday morning, his dad Max Parkin found him dead at a worksite near Lobethal – with SafeWork SA now investigating the cause of his death.
Ms Thomson said Josh had been operating a large tree chipper used to pull trees and logs apart.
She claimed the machine had been “having issues” since Monday with Josh sending his family a video complaining about having to constantly unclog it.
“He got in there and tried to fix it for some reason,” Ms Thomson said.
“It wasn’t running when he was in there – he had turned it off, the excavator was off.”
Mr Parkin told 7NEWS his son was unclogging the wood chipper’s barrel when it fell on him and crushed him.
“He was having a chat with me Monday night on the couch about the machine he died in, how it was giving him a hard time,” he said.
On Thursday afternoon, Josh’s family were asked to drive up to Lobethal to identify his body.
“I’m hoping that I just get to touch his skin one last time,” Ms Thomson said. “That’s all I want.”
SA Ambulance crews were called to Harrison Rd at Charleston, near Lobethal, at 6.20am on Wednesday with SES and CFS crews responding to assist with the industrial rescue operation.
A SafeWork SA spokesman said personnel were on the scene investigating the incident.
“Investigators and inspectors attended the scene and are continuing to make inquiries into the circumstances that led to the incident,” a spokesman said on Wednesday.
A truck owned by an arboriculture, agricultural management and landclearing business was among several vehicles seen leaving the property.
Josh’s younger sibling Zander posted on Facebook saying he was “the best brother I could have ever had in any lifetime”.
“You taught me so much,” he wrote. “I love you.”
Ms Thomson said her son would “give out his love in spades”.
“He was just a good dude – a good egg,” she said.
“We were looking through his photos this morning and most of them have got that cheeky look on his face, like something was going on in the background like ‘yeah what’s it going to be this time?’.
“He didn’t offend anybody. He was loved by everyone.”
One of her life’s biggest wishes, she said, was to one day have grandchildren.
“They (Josh and Mekayla) have been together for eight years. They just got married and I was kind of hoping that, one day, there would be little mini Mekaylas and Joshs – but no, that won’t happen,” Ms Thomson said.
“We were trying to get them to move out of home and they wouldn’t go. Actually, in hindsight, it’s a massive compliment that he wanted to stay with his mum and dad. It speaks volumes.”
In 2019, Josh was the victim of a hit-and-run collision while riding his motorbike at Black Forest, in Adelaide’s inner-south.
He was just 18 at the time when he was struck by a driver who failed to give way – and then sped off.
The impact, caused by the crash, drove the bike’s peg into Josh’s foot which left him with a “golf ball-sized hole” in his foot which required an emergency graft. He spent five nights in hospital.
Josh’s death comes after, in March, 24-year-old Jesse Upton succumbed to injuries he sustained while working at Costa mushroom farm in Monarto.
The Advertiser understands Mr Upton was in the farm’s composting facility when he died.
That incident came less than a week after a man in his 40s sustained serious injuries to his leg at a Riverlea Park workplace.
South Australia hit a horrifying high last year, after the state recorded the largest number of workplace deaths over the 2024/25 financial year.
A total 26 people died in workplace-related deaths over 2024/25, double the previous year’s of 13.
Throughout the 2025/26 financial year, there were at least five workplace incidents, including three deaths.
SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell said “every workplace death is a tragedy”.
“This one is no exception,” he said.
“This young man’s loss will be felt deeply by his family, mates and the wider community and my thoughts are with them right now.
“The incident will be thoroughly investigated by SafeWork SA.”