Talented footy player dies aged just 18 after suffering freak medical episode on a remote farm
Aspiring footy star Tyson Freund is being mourned after his sudden death on a South Australian farm on Tuesday, aged just 18.
Ambulance crews were called to a property in Coonalpyn, about 150km south-east of Adelaide, on Tuesday afternoon when Freund suffered breathing problems.
Paramedics arrived at 4.11pm, gave him CPR and and called for a helicopter to take the teenager to hospital.
'Despite the dedicated efforts of our crews, SAAS [the South Australian Ambulance Service] can confirm that resuscitation was ceased on scene,' an SAAS spokesperson said.
Freund - who reportedly had asthma and often carried a puffer to control the condition - captained a local footy team, and his death sent shockwaves through the local community.
His death came one day after dust storms hit the area, but at the time of writing there was no evidence linking the weather phenomenon to the tragedy.
The Jervois Bluds Football Club are deciding whether to cancel their game this weekend after learning the awful news, according to News Corp.
Bluds player Raymond Love called Freund an 'amazing young man' in a tribute on social media, adding that his mate 'will be missed not only by the football club but also the whole community'.
Freund graduated from Unity College in Murray Bridge last year, and principal Francois Pienaar paid tribute to his former student.
'Our hearts go out to their family, friends and all who are grieving this profound loss,' he said.
'In times like these, the strength of our community lies in our care for one another.
'We have put in place a comprehensive support structure across both campuses to provide counselling and pastoral care to students, staff and families.
'We honour the life of this young, well-loved, vibrant person and the impact he had during his time at Unity.'
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"So what role can the animal play in that?" she asks. Safdar says she is considering running a study which would involve collecting faecal samples from both pets and their human owners when they come for repeated veterinary appointments to see if their guts become more microbially similar with time. She also wants to see if she can identify similar bacterial species which could confer health benefits. However, others feel that the idea of dog or cat or any other kind of non-human animal microbes being incorporated into our microbiomes is dubious. "There's zero evidence of that whatsoever," says Gilbert. "We don't really find long-term accumulation of dog bacteria on our skin, in our mouth, or in our guts. They don't really stick around." In response to this, Safdar says that she still feels the study is very much worthwhile, stating she feels it is plausible that gut microbes can be transferred from pets to their owners and vice versa. 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