Just days before his death, things were finally starting to look up for Dieter Brummer.
Aware he was struggling financially, an old mate had offered the Home and Away heartthrob some much needed work.
'Thanks for getting me on board,' Brummer excitedly wrote on Facebook.
Since giving the small screen the flick, Brummer, 45, had turned his hand to high-rise window washing and this job on a prestigious apartment building in Sydney’s CBD was the lifeline he needed.
'I am looking forward to a future working high above Covid which is "apparently" "ravaging" Sydney.'
But the July 15 message of thanks to his mate, complete with a picture of a bearded Brummer nestled among the city's skyscrapers, would tragically be his last.
Just two days later, on July 17, the NSW Government paused all construction in greater Sydney for two weeks, in a desperate - and failed - bid to arrest a surge in cases of the Indian Delta variant.
The lockdown was a devastating blow for Brummer, who took his own life at his parent's Glenhaven home, in the city's north west, on Saturday, just one week after the restrictions were announced.
'He was really excited and really grateful about the job,' his grieving employer, who has known Brummer for two decades, told Daily Mail Australia.
'The lockdown took the wind out of his sails.'
Final photo: A bearded Dieter Brummer posted a 'thank you' Facebook post to his new employer on July 15 - but just days later he was out of work when the NSW government announced a pause on all construction in greater Sydney
One of Brummer's last posts, thanking his friend of two decades for hiring him. His new boss said he was 'really excited and really grateful' for the opportunity - but it was derailed by the state government's construction lockdown
Brummer (left, and right with Melissa George) became a household name for his role as Shane Parish on TV soap Home & Away. He was found dead at his parents' home in Glenhaven, age 45, last Saturday
As his 'Plan B' career after TV fame, Brummer ran a window washing business and worked as a rope access technician. Above, a picture by friend Chris Cooper, who remembered him for the 'good laughs and silly times' they had 'hanging off buildings all around the world'
Brummer is the one of tens of thousands of workers who have been prevented from making a living by the city's crushing lockdown measures.
Sydney is the first city in Australia to pause construction since the pandemic began. The building industry only starts again tomorrow, but not in eight LGAs in west and south-west Sydney that are the subject of tighter lockdown measures.
Daily Mail Australia understands Brummer was told he could access financial support from the state government, but was frustrated by the process.
'It was the last straw,' a close friend claimed.
The revelations come as the household name's grieving mother, Dawn, told Daily Mail Australia of the powerful legacy Brummer will leave behind for others battling depression.
Dawn Brummer, 84, said her son was struggling financially when approached on Friday. Mrs Brummer said she is coping with her grief by writing a memoir about her son to help others battling mental health issues.
'The lockdown thing took the wind out of his sails
Brummer's last employer, speaking to Daily Mail Australia
'At the moment I am writing a book on his life, all the details of his frame of his mind will be included in that.' she said.
'His friends are helping me. And I'm hoping that the book will help people who are suffering from a depressed state of mind.
'That's filling my life now, I'm just writing, writing, writing.'
Mrs Brummer is being supported by family ahead of her son's funeral.
Loving family: Dieter Brummer's sister Karlene (left) shared this moving picture of the siblings together as children. Grieving mum Dawn Brummer (right) said she is filling her life with a book about her son Dieter and his struggle with depression
Late Home and Away star Dieter Brummer is seen more recently in an interview with the Seven Network. He was named Australia's 'favourite actor' in the 90s
Brummer's oldest friend Rob,returned to his Glenhaven home in Sydney's north (pictured) last week to begin the devastating task of sorting through his belongings
Brummer was found dead on Saturday after police were asked to perform a welfare check. His parents refused to return to their home in the days after they heard news of their son's death.
The '90s
