The final days before influenza claimed the life of an otherwise healthy Canberra father have been laid bare after the shock death plunged his wife and three sons into a period of “profound loss”.
Mate Babic started to feel unwell earlier this month, but the 37-year-old died hours before his doctor’s appointment five days later.
After first noticing symptoms on Friday, July 7, Mate made a TeleHeath call on the following Tuesday, a family friend and organiser of a GoFundMe supporting the family, Peta Harrison confirmed with 7NEWS.com.au.
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The TeleHeath GP advised that Mate should book an in-person doctor’s appointment, which his wife Carla scheduled for the following day.
Mate then went to his parent’s house and, after a feverish night, began to pour himself a bath.
He laid down on a nearby bed while the bath filled, and then flooded the house, as he passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Mate’s parents discovered him when they woke up.
“His influenza had progressed to a bacterial pneumonia,” Harrison said.
Mate’s wife Carla is now left to raise their three sons — three-year-old Luka, six-year-old Sebastian, and seven-year-old Marko — on her own.
“One of the most pressing concerns is the ability to keep their family home that Mate built for them himself,” the GoFundMe said.
“Building the home was Mate’s way of providing for the family. It would be absolutely devastating to lose it.
“Our goal is to provide them with a financial safety net that will alleviate the immediate strain of funeral arrangement costs, household expenses, mortgage repayments, raising three boys on her own, and give them some breathing room to navigate this difficult time.”
Donations to support the family can be made via the GoFundMe here.
In the fortnight before Mate began feeling ill, there were 154 hospitalisations due to influenza across FluCAN sentinel hospital sites. Nine of those flu patients were admitted to ICU, according to the Department of Health Influenza Surveillance Report.
In the ACT, between July 7 and 13, there were 96 influenza presentations from patients in Mate’s age group (20-64).
Flu vaccinations across Australia between March and July 2023 have dropped almost 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2022, according to the Australian Immunisation Register, prompting national calls for vaccinations.
– With AAP
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