I lost my brother to stroke

By Gen 

My brother, Tom, 24, was a loving, caring and hilarious young man whose passion was to work in agriculture. 

Tom had perused that dream from a young age and worked on many cattle stations throughout Queensland. 

It was a Friday afternoon in September 2018 when we received the call to say that Tom had gone to step out of a truck at work and had collapsed.  

On that day, he had commented a few times that he had lost some sensation on his left side. RACQ Life Flight was called, and he was transported to Toowoomba Hospital. 

When we were told, my initial thought was, “Tom’s a young man, it’s probably a lack of water and food, he’s in the sun all day and the heat could be strong. He’s probably dehydrated.”  

But tests and scans showed that Tom had suffered a catastrophic stroke. He was on life support and his chances of survival were slim.   

The next day our family went to be by his side. There was Tom being kept alive by a breathing tube.

We weren’t sure how much longer he would live. He looked vulnerable hooked up to all the tubes. 

Tom kept fighting for the next 4 days, but his injury was too severe as his organs began to shut down. We knew his life was coming to an end.  

On Wednesday 26th September 2018, at the age of 24, the beeps from the life support machine stopped. Tom was gone. 

After Tom died, we learned that the stroke was caused by a mass on his heart. A piece had broken away and travelled to his brain. 

Our family has been devastated by his loss. 

To my darling Brother, I’m sorry you had to go through what you went through. You followed your passion and lived your dream, and you worked hard for it. I will always be proud of you for that. 

I miss you beyond words mate! Rest in Peace Tom. 

Life is short, don’t take a second for granted. Treasure those who are around you, hug them, kiss them, tell them how much you love them, but most of all be present with them. You don’t know what’s around the corner.  - Gen