Latest news with #FrancesHowe
The Age
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Age
What change must come from these parents' darkest hour
There are few experiences harder to fathom than a parent losing a child in an unexpected and unexplained way. In their darkest hour, parents must navigate the coronial system where, for all the care and professionalism they may encounter, they must answer difficult questions and make what must seem like impossible choices. All while their hearts are broken. As Frances Howe reports today, about 40 per cent of all deaths for people under the age of 20 are listed as unascertained after an autopsy. In more than a quarter of cases (27 per cent), unexplained sudden cardiac deaths in young people involved relevant genetic mutations. Two such children were Sonny and Airlie Green. Sonny died aged nine months; he carried a rare mutation of a gene known as PPA2, which can cause sudden cardiac death. This was not discovered until after his death, when his sister had become ill at five months old. Airlie had the same mutation and died aged 18 months, leaving parents Danielle and Leon Green crushed. A year on, Danielle Green is leading the charge to make genetic testing a routine part of all post-mortem examinations in unexplained deaths for everyone aged under 20 years. This is not simply about offering heartbroken parents closure, although Green does wonder how many families 'who are beating themselves up every single day' would find comfort in having an answer to how their little ones died. The campaign is also about preventing future tragedies. Nearly 90 per cent of couples at risk of having a child with a genetic condition have no prior family history of the disorder. Professor Gina Ravenscroft, a rare disease genetics expert at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and University of Western Australia, says testing would help enable earlier medical interventions, guide family planning and reduce parents' 'uncertainty and emotional trauma'. Loading Genetic testing is not a mandatory component of coronial investigations into unexplained deaths in any Australian state or territory. Each jurisdiction has its own triggers; Ravenscroft recommends a consistent national approach. NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley says a coroner can order genetic testing based on advice from NSW Health Forensic Medicine, and the government was 'always considering ways the coronial process can be improved to provide answers to grieving families'. This is an idea well worth considering.
The Age
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Anzac Day 2025 LIVE updates: Albanese, Dutton attend dawn services; man expected to be charged over Welcome to Country booing
10.01am Flyover cracks the sky as Sydney parade marches on By Frances Howe The flyover cracked the clearing sky above Elizabeth Street in Sydney at exactly 9.30am, slightly spooking the two memorial horses commemorating the passing of the last First World War veteran and the last Boer War veteran. Behind them, some of the youngest marching, the cadets, held the First World War unit flags. The RSL predicted around 12,500 people would attend the march in Sydney this morning. They watched as the taxis, some of them carrying World War II veterans and their families, were some of the first to meet the finish line of the march. 9.37am 50,000 attend dawn service in Melbourne By Brittany Busch The crowds dispersed from Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance following the dawn service to line the streets for the annual Anzac Day march. According to the RSL, 50,000 people attended the service – 10,000 more than last year. Onlookers lined the barricades and clapped the procession as it made its way down St Kilda Road, with veterans wearing their medals and family members carrying photographs of those who had died. Waltzing Matilda played as marching bands led uniformed members from the army, navy, Victoria Police, and a New Zealand delegation representing Australia's Anzac allies. 9.35am Police guard Jewish forum in Kooyong as Ryan, Hamer finally share stage By Rachael Dexter Back on the election campaign trail, independent MP Monique Ryan and Liberal challenger Amelia Hamer finally shared a stage for the first time on Thursday night in a tightly controlled candidates' forum in the key Melbourne seat of Kooyong, with both women seeking to shore up support from the electorate's now-increased Jewish community. A coalition of Jewish organisations, including Zionism Victoria and the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, hosted the event at Bialik College. It had none of the theatrics of the Friends of the ABC forum at Kew Library on Wednesday, which descended into chaos after far-right agitators gatecrashed the event, prompting one woman to throw a punch at one of the protesters. Organisers of the Jewish forum confirmed the Australian Federal Police attended after the drama of the previous night's events. Following a redistribution that abolished the neighbouring seat of Higgins, Kooyong's boundaries this election now include a larger proportion of Jewish voters.
