Brendan Cole

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My son Brendan was only 29 when he set off on his lifelong dream of traveling the world and ending up in Edinburgh…where he planned to live for however long. He only made it as far as Laos.

He was taking part in some extreme water sports and living the dream. I believe a lot of the waterways in Laos are quite putrid and Brendan sustained a cut on his foot. I believe the cut was only an inch or so long.

Being a typical young man, having fun and enjoying life, seeing a doctor about the cut would have been very far from his mind.

Brendan travelled to Thailand and checked into his hotel. He didn’t surface for two days and he obviously became gravely ill. He had the wherewithal to call for an ambulance where he was transported to the Phuket international hospital…he was in ICU for 24 hours at which time, he went into cardiac arrest. After a lengthy period of attempted resuscitation, it was too late and he passed away.

My life was turned upside down after a knock on our front door from the local police informing me of his death.

I tell this story to stress the importance of immediate medical attention. I’m sure if Brendan had not been travelling alone, his companion would have insisted he seek medical attention and he could have been saved.

I hope this story is helpful in some way.

Mary Dunstan ( Brendan’s mum)
Melbourne, Australia

Source: Mary Dunstan (Brendan's mum)

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