Fundraising pages have been set up in honour of a Greenvale high school student and an Epping man who died during the ‘thunderstorm asthma’ epidemic which struck Melbourne last week.
Omar Moujalled, 18, and Apollo Papadopolos, 35, were among three people to have died after a thunderstorm on November 21 which triggered asthma in thousands of people across the city, and overwhelmed hospital emergency departments and ambulance services.
Mr Moujalled died on his way to hospital after suffering an asthma attack.
He was two days away from graduating from high school. Mr Moujalled was farewelled at Meadow Heights Mosque last Wednesday.
The Australian International Academy, where he went to school, said it was greatly saddened by his death.
The school paid tribute to Mr Moujalled on its website and in a Facebook post, describing him as an exemplary student who was a much-loved and respected role model.
Friends set up a fundraising page, with money raised to be donated to the Human Appeal Australian Fund to build wells in disadvantaged countries.
A fundraiser was also set up to help cover the cost of Mr Papadopoulos’ funeral. The stainless-steel engineer is believed to have died at home despite paramedics’ efforts to revive him.
Tributes to Mr Papadopoulos were posted on social media, with friends remembering his “beautiful smile and sense of humour”.
The Northern Hospital said it had been inundated with patients experiencing asthma and respiratory issues following the storm.
Chief medical officer Alison Dwyer said that between 5pm on November 21 and 10am on November 22, 383 patients presented to the hospital’s emergency department.
“[That’s] compared with 170 from the same period over the previous seven days,” she said.
“Over 50 per cent of patients admitted presented with shortness of breath.”
The Inspector-General of Emergency Management is leading a statewide review into the emergency and will look at how health and emergency services responded.
Health and Ambulance Services Minister Jill Hennessy said Melbourne had experienced a health emergency of an unprecedented scale.
