A 17-year-old Levi-Jackson Furnivall told his mother he was checking on a friend moments before losing his life in tragic accident

A 17-year-old teenager who tragically died in a car crash told his mother he was going to check on a friend moments before the car .

Levi-Jackson Furnivall was sitting in the back seat of a red Mitsubishi Magna travelling along the Tonkin Highway in south-east Perth, with an unidentified 19-year-old behind the wheel.

But suddenly, the car left the highway near Gosnells Road East before rolling and hitting a tree at around 1:40am on Thursday.

While the driver and front-seat passenger were left unharmed, Levi-Jackson tragically lost his life in the back seat.

The young man was moments away from embarking on a new chapter of his life, having recently secured a mechanics apprenticeship.

In the days following the awful accident, his mother Atariki Simon-Wharepapa shared the heartbreaking last words her son told her before leaving home.

Ms Simon-Wharepapa said she wanted people to “celebrate my boy’s life” rather than focus on the tragedy.

“I know he was with his mates. He hadn’t heard from one of his best friends all day, and they wanted to go check on him,” she tolds 7NEWS.

Levi-Jackson’s mother described her son as a high-energy boy who “lived on the edge,” recalling his love for riding dirt bikes at the young age of four.

“I always told him I was going to have a bloody heart attack because he always lived on the edge. He just had a big heart, a really big heart,” she said.

The young man leaves behind a 13-year-old brother and a 7-year-old sister.

While it remains unclear if Levi-Jackson was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, his mother said she holds no anger towards the 19-year-old driver, who sustained only minor injuries.

She said she’s been trying to get in contact but suspects they are “a bit scared to come see me”.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of his mates, I think they’re a bit scared to come see me, and I just want to let them know it’s OK,” she said.

“I‘m angry at the situation, and kids, they’ve got to learn, but I can’t blame that boy. I don’t want anyone to hate on the driver, because I know he’s got a lot of friends, and I know they’re all probably going to want to rebel, but I don’t want that.”

Friends of Levi-Jackson took to social media to pay tribute, with one commenting, “Gone way too soon my brother, I never imagined losing a friend.”

Police are investigating the cause of the fatal accident and urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.