I have lost my only son and eldest of my two children.  Nick was a wonderful, fit, healthy young man with a bright future in front of him.  He did well in his HSC and was about to commence a commerce degree at Macquarie University in Sydney.

He was a quiet achiever, well mannered, he loved animals and had many good friends.

He died suddenly a week after leaving home to live on campus.  Nick was walking back to the university campus with other students when he collapsed and died in front of them.  One of the young men immediately started giving him CPR while another ran back to get a doctor from campus.  Dr Rosemary Piggin and her daughter Dr Marianne Piggin took over CPR until the ambulance arrived and then continued to work with ambulance crew.

He was taken to hospital where he was worked on for another half an hour or so.  Rosemary said she thought he had died immediately, as when she reached Nick within 4 minutes of him collapsing he had no pulse and was not breathing.  His pupils were dilated and he was already quite cold.  Nick had all the help possible immediately after collapsing, but nobody could save him.

An autopsy was performed the next day after I had flown to Sydney to identify my son.  The coroner found nothing and said he didn't expect to.  He called it SADS (sudden adolescent death syndrome) and talked about Long QT Syndrome.  I had never heard of this.  I have heard of people dropping dead for no apparent reason, but that was all I knew.

Nick had been having dizzy spells over the Xmas holidays and had collapsed the previous Xmas while holidaying with his father in Nth Qld.  I was not told about this incident.  This was the only sign that something may have been wrong.  As I have experienced this I thought it was just low blood pressure and the heat.  It only happened after he got up from lying down. I have been to the cardiologist in Ballina with my 8 year old daughter from my second marriage, LQTS did not show up, only a heart murmur we both have.  Nick's father has not been tested as far as I know to date.  I don't know where this has come from.  DNA tests are being done, maybe something will show up there. I am so heartbroken, I wish I had known about this and perhaps something could have been done.

Jane Beeby