‘They were meant to be together’- families pay tribute to tragic Chesterfield couple who died in motorbike crash

Amy and Ben are pictured with Ben's young sons, Corben and Rueben. Amy was very close to the two boys and would read stories to them over the phone when she was in Canada.

The heartbroken families of a much-loved Chesterfield couple who were killed in a motorbike crash just months after their wedding say their world will never be the same again.

The community has been rocked by the tragic deaths of Ben and Amy Rybka, who died after their motorbike collided with a lorry on the Stocksbridge bypass on Thursday, March 21.

Dad-of-two Ben, 35, from Chesterfield, was pronounced dead at the scene and Canadian-born Amy, 30, passed away in hospital six days later.

The pair had tied the knot in Canada at Amy’s family home on October 22 2018, after meeting on a cruise ship while working in Australia.

The lovestruck pair had got married in Canada in October last year.

The besotted newlyweds had returned to Chesterfield to start their life together as husband and wife- and had only been in England for two months when tragedy struck.

Ben’s devastated mum Sonja, and sister, Kate, said: “Amy absolutely adored Ben and would have done anything for him.

“It felt like she was meant to be here, that they were meant to be together.

“She fit right in with the family straight away. We used to joke if they never got married, Amy could come and live with us anyway.

The couple were married in a beautiful ceremony at Amy's family home in Canada, before returning to England to start their life as husband and wife.

“We were doing ok at first, because Amy was alive and she was our link to Ben.

“We would get up every day to see her. But after she too died, it felt like we had lost everything.”

Ben, an outdoor pursuits instructor at The Mill in Mansfield, has been described as an ‘adventurer’ who ‘loved climbing, sailing and biking’ and ‘was always laughing’.

He leaves behind two young sons, Corben, aged seven, and Rueben, aged five, who ‘meant the absolute world’ to him.

Amy was close to the boys and would often read stories to them over the phone while she was in Canada.

Ben also loved his dad, Andrew, brother, Daniel and five-year-old niece, Lana.

“As a family, we saw each other every day, meeting at my mum’s house,” said Kate.