Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
- Messages
- 84,998
Canterbury, New Zealand: Eight years apart, two teenage siblings died in their sleep.
The nights leading up to each of their deaths were not out of the ordinary. A meal with friends or family, and less than one drink of alcohol.
It is only now, two decades later, that researchers can say for certain it was that one drink that killed them.
The boys' parents are among the first to donate for research to Canterbury's Maia Health Foundation.
Canterbury couple John and Margaret, who did not want their last name used to protect their remaining children and grandchildren, marked 25 years since their eldest son's death on April 28.
The 15-year-old was home from boarding school for the weekend, and had gone to bed after dinner with neighbours.
"He went to bed at midnight after a minute amount of alcohol, and didn't wake up the next day," John said.
Doctors were baffled, but Margaret had her suspicions, sparked by what seemed like a severe sensitivity to alcohol for her four children.
"Cough medicine gave them pain in their chest. When Grandma brought over trifle the same thing happened.
"But one of the most obvious things was all children liked to drink dad's beer. Ours were the only children who didn't do that."
Eight years later, their 19-year-old went out for one of his new flatmate's birthdays, and had less than 10 milligrams of alcohol.
The children had been told to avoid alcohol by this stage, but his parents believed that after having just started a new job, and moved into a new flat, he simply wanted to fit in.
"He had one drink and that was the end of him. He didn't wake up the next day," John said.
"It was [traumatising]. I was very concerned how we would cope with dealing with the whole death process again," Margaret said.
Two decades later, PhD student Hannah Kennedy uncovered groundbreaking evidence of what caused the teens' deaths.
Kennedy discovered John and Margaret each carried different gene mutations and all of their children had inherited both mutations.
"In some respects it's very bad luck," Kennedy said.
Her team contacted a lab in Munich, and after their own patients with heart disorders were examined, four other families were identified with the same conditions.
It was not yet known if the couple's six grandchildren carried the mutations.
"Maybe I should never have married this pretty woman," John said.
"But we now seem to be getting a little closer to understanding why they died and are comforted by the thought that they may not have died in vain."
Source: : http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-zea...of-alcohol-20160510-gos28r.html#ixzz48IZ1lHvA
The nights leading up to each of their deaths were not out of the ordinary. A meal with friends or family, and less than one drink of alcohol.
It is only now, two decades later, that researchers can say for certain it was that one drink that killed them.
The boys' parents are among the first to donate for research to Canterbury's Maia Health Foundation.
Canterbury couple John and Margaret, who did not want their last name used to protect their remaining children and grandchildren, marked 25 years since their eldest son's death on April 28.
The 15-year-old was home from boarding school for the weekend, and had gone to bed after dinner with neighbours.
"He went to bed at midnight after a minute amount of alcohol, and didn't wake up the next day," John said.
Doctors were baffled, but Margaret had her suspicions, sparked by what seemed like a severe sensitivity to alcohol for her four children.
"Cough medicine gave them pain in their chest. When Grandma brought over trifle the same thing happened.
"But one of the most obvious things was all children liked to drink dad's beer. Ours were the only children who didn't do that."
Eight years later, their 19-year-old went out for one of his new flatmate's birthdays, and had less than 10 milligrams of alcohol.
The children had been told to avoid alcohol by this stage, but his parents believed that after having just started a new job, and moved into a new flat, he simply wanted to fit in.
"He had one drink and that was the end of him. He didn't wake up the next day," John said.
"It was [traumatising]. I was very concerned how we would cope with dealing with the whole death process again," Margaret said.
Two decades later, PhD student Hannah Kennedy uncovered groundbreaking evidence of what caused the teens' deaths.
Kennedy discovered John and Margaret each carried different gene mutations and all of their children had inherited both mutations.
"In some respects it's very bad luck," Kennedy said.
Her team contacted a lab in Munich, and after their own patients with heart disorders were examined, four other families were identified with the same conditions.
It was not yet known if the couple's six grandchildren carried the mutations.
"Maybe I should never have married this pretty woman," John said.
"But we now seem to be getting a little closer to understanding why they died and are comforted by the thought that they may not have died in vain."
Source: : http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-zea...of-alcohol-20160510-gos28r.html#ixzz48IZ1lHvA
