Memories of Mac
“MacKenzie Charlie Brennan Holdsworth, known as Mac, was a really fun-loving boy and a fiercely loyal family member who always loved being involved in any sport, particularly football and basketball.
In addition to having a competitive streak, he was generous to a fault.
“If I lent him $20, in my account the next day there would be $30,” his father Wayne said.
“While working as an apprentice, a chippy had a pair of boots with holes in the bottom of them. Being winter, water was coming through. Mac lent him his own boots and put on a pair of thongs. He was just so generous. That was the sort of boy that Mac was”.
Mac loved running and represented his school. He would run in the 800m and he would get out 400m in front. By the time the others had only passed the 100m mark, he’d look behind saying, ‘Catch me if you can’, but they never did.
While he was probably in the third quartile of children scholastically, he was one of the most popular kids because he would always help others.
“He would always ensure that if any boy or girl was bullied, he would protect them. So much so that we’ve become really good friends with several of his teachers who are long-lasting friends,” said Wayne.
In his last year of primary school, Mac was selected as the primary school captain, and that was a really proud day for him. He really enjoyed that role because he could then get up in front of people and speak, which he wasn’t very good at to start with, but quickly developed his skills.
Respectful and responsible
Mac was, by all accounts, very respectful and very responsible. He would be home by whatever time he had agreed to and would let his Dad know if he was going to be even five minutes late.
He was never in trouble with the law and never did drugs. A number of his friends met with Wayne in a very emotional catch up after Mac passed away and Wayne asked them some specific questions.
While some of the boys said that they had partaken in drugs, they said when they offered them to Mac he always turned them down, saying, “No. I’ve got footy training tomorrow night’ or ‘I’ve got a footy game’, I’ve got a basketball game’, ‘It’s not for me, it’s not my style’.” And he would say that his Dad wouldn’t be proud of him if he did.
“He was a really, really good boy in the sense of doing the right thing. But he did like a beer. He really enjoyed having a beer with his friends, even though he was a little bit underage. He enjoyed sitting around with his friends at people’s homes and just having a beer together.”
A loyal family member
Within his family, Wayne describes Mac as a bit of a bit of a leader. For example, if his sister Daisy, two-and-a-half-years younger, needed help during the day at the school, he would help her. He was very protective of her.
One day, a boy pushed Daisy into a door at school and Daisy came home and told the family. Mac was in secondary school at that point and before he went to school the next day, he went to the primary school to sort that boy out. “Not that I promote any sort of violence, but he was very, very protective of Daisy.
“He was very loyal to his family, all of us. If he said he was gonna be there, he’d be there.
He’d often, be with his friends on a Saturday night, but he would never, ever miss watching Daisy play a game of football on the Sunday down at Mornington. He’d be there beanie on head, cheering her on and later tell her what she should have done. He was very supportive”.
Mac really enjoyed working with his brother Spencer, 21, who was Renee’s son. The pair travelled to their shared Mornington workplace every day and their relationship got closer in the months before Mac’s passing. Spencer is really feeling the pain of the loss.
Mac had a particularly close bond with another brother, Wayne’s son, Joss aged 33.
“He idolised Joss. He was just a great mentor for Mac. Joss really feels the pain that he should have done more to keep him on the planet”.
On Mac’s last birthday Joss gifted him a car. He got it fixed up and then planted it in the driveway telling Wayne, “Tell Mac that’s his birthday present, but I don’t want to give it to him because I’ll cry”.
Mac’s family also includes a younger sister Piper, on his mother’s side, and an older brother Ben.