BEES are believed to be behind the tragic death of Lachlan Thomson who fell from a cliff top at Freshwater headland on the northern beaches two weeks ago.

As a construction worker used to toiling on scaffolds, Mr Thomson wasn’t afraid of heights. But bees were another matter.

The 22-year-old was allergic to them, and his family are convinced this initiated a tragic sequence of events that culminated in his death.

Mr Thomson was walking along the clifftop near Freshwater View Reserve with his best friend and roommate, Wilson Hale when it is believed he came across some bees, on Sunday, June 14.

“I couldn’t see — but the way he moved it looked like he was trying to swat something,” Mr Hale said.

In his haste to move away, Mr Thomson stepped back into what he must have felt was bush growing on solid earth.

But the dense growth was just a thin cover over a gap in the cliff edge.

media_camera Lachlan Thomson worked in construction. Picture: Supplied media_camera The cliff face where Mr Thomson fell. Picture: Troy Snook

In a split second, the young and handsome, sport-loving man fell to his death.

“When I saw him roll off the edge, I went down to see if there was another ledge below,” Mr Hale said.

“Then I saw it was a straight drop, that’s when I ran all the way back down to the rocks to go and get him.”

Mr Thomson’s mother Susie said the bees would have diverted his attention.

“The bees would have distracted him, they would have distracted anyone.”

type_quote_start “I couldn’t understand how he would fall off the cliff because he was so coordinated and so sure-footed and athletic.” type_quote_end

The Thomson family has called on Warringah Council to make the area safer by putting a fence at the edge.

“If they cannot fence the whole cliff area, the council should at least recognise the importance of fencing the area where our Lachy fell,” Mrs Thomson said.

“I just don’t want his life to be in vain, I know everyone says that when they lose a child but it’s true.”

“Someone has now died there — 22, young, and at the peak of his strength. His life is gone.”

media_camera Devastated parents Susie and Graham Thomson. Picture: Troy Snook media_camera The gap in the rock face where Mr Thomson fell. Picture: Troy Snook

A natural athlete, there wasn’t a sport Mr Thomson didn’t love — soccer, athletics, baseball, rugby, cricket, skateboarding, skiing, wakeboarding, and his more recent passion, surfing.

How such an accident happened to a young man with natural balance initially puzzled his sister Sarah.

“He spent his life on scaffolding, was always up on heights — I just couldn’t work out how it would happen,” she said.

“I think that was the thing that shocked me the most when I heard about the fall.

“I couldn’t understand how he would fall off the cliff because he was so coordinated and so sure-footed and athletic.”

media_camera Police talk to unidentified people near the site where Mr Thomson fell. Picture: Troy Snook

A week after the tragic accident, Mr Thomson’s sister visited the site to find out exactly what happened.

“Unless you had (it) explained, you wouldn’t really know,” she said.

“The bit where he fell with those bushes is so deceptive, the edge is so close.

The young man’s death has hit everyone who knew him hard.

His family described him as lively, outrageous, big-hearted and generous.

“He was too big to put into words,” Mrs Thomson said.

SURFER SAYS ACCIDENT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME

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media_camera The gap in the rock face at Freshwater headland where Mr Thomson fell. Picture: Troy Snook

His older brother Alastair and sister Sarah were extremely close to him.

His girlfriend Danielle Phillips said he loved his job as a construction worker for a commercial builder, Mirvac.

“There was no limit to what he wanted to do and was capable of achieving,” she said.

“He told me once that one day he was going to build skyscrapers.

“And my beautiful Lach, I have no doubt that is exactly what you would have done.”

Mrs Thomson said he was looked up to among his colleagues.

“He had lovely apprentices who really looked up to him — they wanted to be just like Lachy,” she said.

media_camera Police at the site where Mr Thomson fell. Picture: Troy Snook

Working six days a week, Sundays were Mr Thomson’s day, with Mr Hale saying: “Sunday was always our day surfing, skating, sitting at the beach and afternoon beers with mates.

“We were a duo; if one of us got invited somewhere you needed to expect that we would be there together.”

Mrs Thomson wanted to thank the surfer who was first on the scene, and other surfers who sought help.

She also thanked those Freshwater SLSC volunteers and emergency personnel who desperately tried to assist Lachlan at the scene.

In loving memory, the Thomson family would like a plaque to be placed near the site overlooking Freshwater Beach which he loved so much.

And in a tribute to Lachy, there will be a memorial service held this Sunday at 12:30pm at Freshwater.

Surfers will be paddling out and doing a circle of honour.

The Thomson family has invited anyone who wants to pay their respects.