Jake’s parents, Cheryl and Peter are struggling to come to terms with their loss.By Melissa Donchi
THE Yarra Glen community has been left reeling after the shocking loss of an 11-year-old boy to a deadly asthma attack.
Jake Hindhaugh had just got home after playing his 50th match with the Yarra Glen Junior Football Club U12 team on 15 April, when the attack began.
Gasping for breath, Jake ran straight to his parents who immediately called an ambulance.
As fate would have it that day, both the Healesville and Lilydale ambulances were out with the next available one in Diamond Creek – almost half an hour away.
Jake’s dad Peter remembers screaming into the phone that they didn’t have that long.
“I knew in my heart that it was going to be too late. It all seemed to happen within a few minutes,” Mr Hindhaugh said.
By the time the ambulance arrived Jake had stopped breathing.
While paramedics were able to resuscitate Jake, he had already sustained significant brain damage and fallen into a coma.
He died four days later, just one month before his 12th birthday.
Numb with shock, Jake’s parents still can’t believe what has happened to their family.
“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so useless in my life,” Mr Hindhaugh said.
“I can’t begin to describe what it feels like to watch your son die right before your eyes and not be able to do a thing about it.”
Their shock is understandable considering Jake had only ever suffered from mild asthma.
“Like most parents we were aware of Jake’s asthma and thought we knew how to treat it,” Mr Hindhaugh said.
“He had medication and we taught him to recognise the symptoms and be careful.”
It was only when they got to the hospital that a doctor explained to Jake’s parents just how deadly asthma could be.
The doctor told them how an asthma attack can sneak up undetected and how quickly the person’s air passage can close down.
“It’s hard for us to get our head around what happened because Jake only had mild asthma,” Jake’s mother Cheryl said.
“He would often go six months without taking a puff from his ventilator.”
Jake’s principal at Yarra Glen Primary, Joe Pacquola said the news of the popular student’s death had shocked the school community.
“We all take asthma very seriously and we know it can be life threatening but this just feels unfair,” Mr Pacquola said.
“If there was ever a child who was responsible in asthma management it was Jake.
“He knew the signs and managed his medication well but it was the way he incorporated that regime into his everyday day life that was most admirable.”
Mr Hindhaugh said he wants to become an active campaigner for the Asthma Foundation so he can educate other people about the dangers of living with asthma.
“We’ve lost our son and there is nothing we can do to get him back,” Mr Hindhaugh said.
“All we can do is make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s child.
“Our lives will never be the same again.”
page 3.
