Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today in parliament there are two extraordinary West Australians, Lorraine and Barry Young. They are here to support the work of Meningococcal Australia, a national organisation which is designed to draw attention to a disease which in its swiftness has proven to be a very lethal disease although one that if diagnosed early is capable of being treated. If not diagnosed within hours, it can lead to death in as little as 12 hours or lead to life-changing physical consequences such as amputation, kidney disease. It is a disease that we must ensure parents are well aware of.

I met Lorraine and Barry Young some 15 years ago shortly after their gorgeous young daughter, the 18-year-old Amanda, had died in tragic circumstances. Amanda was a fit and talented young woman who had been representing Western Australia at a rowing championship in Penrith. When the team returned to Perth the male members of the squad were given penicillin because a female of an East Coast team had been diagnosed with Meningococcal Disease. Amazingly the squad's management appeared to believe that West Australian females would somehow or other be not exposed.

Shortly after, Amanda fell ill. Her mother took her immediately down to the Armadale hospital. Lorraine alerted them to Amanda's contact with the meningococcal bacteria but, nevertheless, the treatment was not given to her. A whole sequence of really unfortunate events then followed. Within two days Amanda died. I worked with Lorraine and Barry through the state parliament to get a coronial inquiry. As a result of that, we saw the Department of Health becoming much more active in their approach to educating health professionals to recognise this disease.

Lorraine and Barry, as you can imagine, when they lost their only child—this beautiful child who was the centre of their lives—were devastated. But they have rebuilt their lives and dedicated themselves to creating the Amanda Young Foundation, which focuses on ensuring that parents, caregivers and health professionals are able to diagnose this disease. I really want to commend them for their work. (Time expired)