An Australian teenager died in a freak accident as he celebrated the beginning of “a new life with his girlfriend” inside their new home.
Sonny Blundell, who just moved from New South Wales to an apartment in Queensland for a concreting job, was found unresponsive by his roommate after the stunt on June 24, his heartbroken older sister, Izabella Cromack-Hay, told The Daily Telegraph.
“He hit his head in the lounge room on the ground and had a headache went to bed,” Cromack-Hay told the outlet. “[He] woke up, went to the toilet vomiting and then passed out. That’s when his best friend found him unresponsive in the morning.”
The 18-year-old was rushed to the Queensland Hospital Intensive Care Unit, where he suffered “multiple strokes.”
“The first 24hrs was the most critical which we nearly lost him after having multiple strokes and another bleed which lead (sic) to him needing a drain in his brain,” Cromack-Hay shared on the GoFundMe page that was made to help pay for Blundell’s medical bills and rehab. “There is major uncertainty that Sonny will or will not pull through. He’s working his hardest as there could be recovery and rehabilitation.”
Blundell slipped into a coma as doctors performed brain surgery, but he eventually died from his injuries on June 30, his sister confirmed on the GoFundMe page.
“Our beautiful Sonny has grown his wings and passed away,” Cromack-Hay added. “We are all in disbelief and major pain.”
Money raised from the fundraiser will be used to return his body to his family in New South Wales and pay for funeral costs.
“We need to bring Sonny home as his sisters are waiting for him,” Cromack-Hay wrote in a GoFundMe update on June 30. “We are all here in Queensland trying our hardest to organize this horrible time and prepare ourselves.”
The page has raised nearly $16,000 for the expenses.
“I’ll bring you home my boy, my love, my soul and my heart,” his mother, Madeline Blundell, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “My best friend and my shoulder to laugh with and cry. I miss you so much my baby .. ma is here.”
Celebratory stunts have had fatal consequences in the past.
South African bodybuilder Sifiso Lungelo Thabete died after a botched backflip attempt while he entered an arena before a competition in 2017.
In 2014, Indian soccer player Peter Biaksangzuala died from injuries he sustained while celebrating a goal with somersaults.
