A MOTORCYCLIST who died in a crash with a lorry in Switzerland had waved goodbye to his wife just hours before.
Neil Baxter, 51, had seen his wife and her friends on to a plane back to Scotland from an airport in Italy on Monday morning. Hours later his motorcycle was involved in a collision with the lorry.
He and his brother Keith, 48, had been on a mot
orcycling holiday in Europe with five friends and were on the return leg home.
Mr Baxter's wife, Wendy, 45, had flown out to Italy to meet up with the group who had driven their bikes from the North-east of Scotland.
She was accompanied to Bologna by the wives of three other members of the group.
After they had spent the weekend together, Mr Baxter waved goodbye to his wife at the airport before setting off on the road to head back to his home in Banff, Aberdeenshire.
The father-of-two died near the Swiss town of Savognin.
Mr Baxter's mother, Isobel, paid tribute to her son, who she called "a champion" who lived life to the full.
She said: "He was well-known locally and was very popular."
She said the accident happened at around 6pm on Monday.
Mrs Baxter added: "The girls were home and were all happy and tanned after their holiday, then we got the tragic news," she said.
Last night family friend John Cox said: "The brothers were very close – Neil was a devoted family man.
"I grew up with him and he's going to be sadly missed. He brightened up every room he walked into with his sense of humour."
Mr Cox, a councillor in Banff, added: "My thoughts are with Neil's wife and sons following this tragedy. We had some great times together. He was a very popular person who had a large circle of friends."
Mr Baxter was a motorcycling enthusiast and a senior plant manager at the St Fergus gas terminal, near Peterhead.
He is survived by his two sons, aged 18 and 15.
The full article contains 348 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
