Newsstand - Broke backpacker dies on flight

Backpacker dies in flight (http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/backpacker-dies-in-flight/2008/03/10/1205125819889.html) [SMH, Lancashire Evening Post]
A BRITISH backpacker who had been living on the streets has died on a flight from Melbourne after immigration officials ordered him to leave Australia, according to an English report.

Michael Edgeley, 22, died on Saturday after his Emirates flight to Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing in India after he complained of chest pains. He was reportedly given oxygen treatment by cabin crew, but died en route to hospital in Mumbai.

Mr Edgeley, a student from Lancashire, in north-west England, had reportedly run out of money and had been living rough in Melbourne. The Lancashire Evening Post reported that he may have been unwell before boarding the plane but had been ordered to return home as his visa had expired. His mother, Jean, had agreed to pay for his flight.


Sad news for many involved but it's also slightly unnerving.

I'm interested in the bolded part of the UK report. Any further details?
I'd be surprised if there was an overruling of a medical document requesting the passenger delay travel.

This is the second most popularly read article on SMH right now.

The loss of a very young life is always a tragedy for friends and family. While heart problems are rare among young people, they do happen. I had an apparently healthy cousin who died of a heart attack on the basketball floor when he was only 19.

I will hold Michael and his family in my thoughts and prayers.

But the department (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23354931-661,00.html)today denied deporting the tourist, saying he had been granted a bridging visa after he explained his plight and was advised to contact family, friends and British authorities for financial help.

The Department said no health problems were apparent on his departure.

"At no time was Mr Edgeley ordered from Australia; his departure was voluntary and unsupervised,'' a statement said.

I dare say we'll have to wait for the coronial inquiry before we know the full story.

Hmmm...let me attempt a diagnosis from my chair.

Two possibilities:

If he looked well on boarding the flight, the subsequent chest pain could be due to a pulmonary embolus or an undiagnosed heart disease such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can crump a young healthy person. Most famous victims were the basketball players Hank Gather from UNLV and the Boston Celtic's Reggie Lewis.

If he looked ill on boarding the flight, with a symptom like chest pain, the possibility of pneumonia should be entertained, especially in light of fact that he was living on the streets.

Other causes of chest pain which can kill also include aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm rupture.

Very sad. May not have anything to do with the flight itself. He may have died on the streets anyway, regardless of flight or no flight.

Sad news and he will me missed.

An update of the story, plus messages from friends, is in today's edtion:

Plea for help from dead backpacker's friends (http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/please-help-mike/2008/03/12/1205125951977.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1) [The Age]
The friends of a young British backpacker who fell ill on his flight home and later died had called a St Kilda crisis centre seeking help for him.

Michael Derek Edgeley, 22, vomited blood while aboard the Emirates Airlines flight EK407 from Melbourne to Dubai last Thursday night.

He was given emergency oxygen by the cabin crew and assisted by a medical doctor and nurse travelling on the flight.

The plane was forced to divert to Sahar airport in Mumbai, India, but the 22-year-old was declared dead when he arrived by ambulance at the Holy Spirit Hospital in the nearby suburb of Andheri.

Sally Williams, 43, from Suffolk, said she spoke to Mr Edgeley just minutes before they both flew home from Australia.
''There was someone in the toilet for ages and people were complaining,''
''One of the crew went to check what was happening. He must have said he was poorly.

''They called for a doctor and took him to the back. When I got my connecting flight from Mumbai, I asked the cabin crew what had happened. When they told me he had passed away, I had tears in my eyes.

''Michael seemed really happy to be going home. He didn't appear ill and if there was something wrong with him, it didn't show.''

Hmmm...let me attempt a diagnosis from my chair.

Two possibilities:

If he looked well on boarding the flight, the subsequent chest pain could be due to a pulmonary embolus or an undiagnosed heart disease such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can crump a young healthy person. Most famous victims were the basketball players Hank Gather from UNLV and the Boston Celtic's Reggie Lewis.

If he looked ill on boarding the flight, with a symptom like chest pain, the possibility of pneumonia should be entertained, especially in light of fact that he was living on the streets.

Other causes of chest pain which can kill also include aortic dissection or aortic aneurysm rupture.

Very sad. May not have anything to do with the flight itself. He may have died on the streets anyway, regardless of flight or no flight.
My cousin at the age of 27, a PA state Karate champ, walked out of a bar one early night and died in front of the place.

Cousin had the same problem that Hank Gather and Reggie Lewis had. It's sad, but people who have this problem with their heart often don't find out until they die from it.

Not saying that's this college kid's exact problem, but I'd also wait until an autopsy is performed before passing blame.

civicmon,

If I were a close relative of someone who dies from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, I would strongly consider an echocardiogram. Chances are, all will be well. However, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy has an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. All it takes is one little gene to show up for you to inherit the damn thing.

Back to the backpacker; from the article he seemed to have been fine on boarding the flight, then fell ill while in-flight. My money is on pulmonary embolus, especially with the presentation of coughing/vomiting blood. So, the moral for all you FTers out there -- keep well-hydrated, and do those stupid little leg exercises during long flights.

As you all sound like highly qualified doctors, as such should you not know better than to speculate wildly about the cause of death for this lad, all your speculation does is continue to generate morbid interest and also cause a great deal of upset to his family. Also one point which no doubt will cause you to re-speculate with your great medical knowledge, he did not have chest pains that was a gross mis-quote by one of the Australian newpapers. The person who mis-quoted had the decency to apologise to the LEP (who ran the origonal story) but not the decency to put into print the fact that she mis-quoted the events. As there have been more than one incorrect piece of information put in the papers I would suggest that until all the facts are out there properly supposition and speculation are a waste of time.