Fourth person dead as Melbourne’s other thunderstorm asthma victims named as Hope Carnevali, 20, and Omar Moujalled, 18

A FOURTH person has reportedly died after Melbourne’s chaotic thunderstorm lead to an asthma epidemic.

Hope Carnevali, 20, from Werribee, died after a thunderstorm asthma outbreak in Melbourne on Monday night.

A FOURTH person has died after Melbourne’s chaotic thunderstorm lead to an asthma epidemic.

A spokesman said they were unable to provide further details at this point, but friends and loved ones have taken to Facebook to pay their respects to 35-year-old Apollo Papadopoulos, which Fairfax Media claims “died after suffering an asthma attack despite frantic efforts by paramedics to revive him”.

According to one Facebook friend, paramedics attempted to revive Mr Papadopoulos for 50 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

Two other people had earlier died from asthma attacks following the thunderstorms on Monday.

Hope Carnevali, 20, died on the front lawn of her family’s Werribee home, struggling to breathe and waiting for an ambulance.

Omar Moujalled, 18, died on his way to hospital as the result of a massive asthma attack experiencing symptoms shared by thousands of Melburnians during a chaotic thunderstorm that whipped up deadly pollen.

They were the unlucky ones that didn’t make it out of Monday’s “thunderstorm asthma” event that saw Ambulance Victoria inundated, overwhelmed and without enough vehicles to cater to the spike in emergency calls.

Today, their families’ grief is amplified by knowing help was so close but tragically out of reach.

The attacks came out of nowhere on Monday and followed a blisteringly hot morning. Temperatures in Melbourne reached a top of 35C, but it was the combination of strong winds, a high pollen count and moisture in the air that made conditions particularly dangerous.

Thunderstorm asthma, an extremely rare phenomenon witnessed just four times in the past 30 years, struck thousands of Melburnians. It happens when pollen granules rupture from moisture in the air. They break up into hundreds of tiny particles that find their way into human lungs and make breathing difficult.

For many sufferers on Monday, they had never experienced asthma in any form. They panicked, phoned triple-0 and waited for help.

Hope and Omar were among them, but help never came.

‘SHE WAS AN ANGEL’

Hope’s family described her as their angel.

“She was very kind-hearted, beautiful gorgeous little girl. She’d do anything for anyone,” her uncle today Nine News.

“If somebody needed her she’d be there. She was an angel. We’re going to miss her so much.”

On social media, friends shared similar warm memories of the 20-year-old.

“Our hearts are heavy today ... I’m lost for words and can only say you’ll be missed by all everyday,” one wrote.

“Rest peacefully Hope Carnevali,” another wrote. “The beautiful girl who made me feel a part of your family.”

Through tears, Hope’s uncle said he could not understand why nobody told him an ambulance would take 30 minutes to arrive. He said such information could’ve saved a life.

“So maybe we can take them straight to hospital where it can save a life, because I’ve lost my niece, maybe for that reason,” he said.

Ambulance Victoria released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, announcing an official investigation would be carried out. Executive director of emergency operations, Mick Stephenson, said Monday’s spike in emergency calls was unprecedented.

“We’ve essentially had a day’s workload within five hours,” Mr Stephenson said.

Within a five-hour period from 6pm-11pm, there were roughly 1900 triple-0 calls, compared to what would typically be about 345.

It’s little comfort to friends and family of Omar Moujalled. The 18-year-old, the oldest of four siblings from Greenvale, 20km north of Melbourne’s CBD, was driven to a doctor’s surgery on Monday evening but died before making it to hospital.

He was two days shy of graduating from high school.

Omar, 18, was days away from graduating high school. Picture: GoFundMe

‘WE WERE PLANNING ROADTRIPS THAT VERY DAY’

Shuayb Talic, a close friend of Omar’s, wrote of a heartbreaking tribute to the teen on Facebook.

“Nothing can explain how heartbroken we all are. Shock and disbelief. Omar Jamil Moujalled, best mate of mine for 9 years, and an absolute leader and brother to all the boys, passed tragically on the 21st,” he wrote.

“The feeling is strange. He’d drop me off home nearly every day. Even when he was absent during school days, the void left by the sudden disappearance of his jokes or presence was felt by everyone. He was my rock, man. No secret I had was unheard by him, and none his by me.

“We’d always have discussions with the lads about our futures, uni adventures and lives after the age of 30 — he used to say, to Jaf specifically, ‘wallah you’re gonna send me a pic of your newborn on the day of his birth’ and the response would be ‘no need bro — you’ll be there on the day’.”

The Australian International Academy, where Omar was due to graduate on Wednesday, cancelled the ceremony. They held an assembly on Tuesday and religious prayers.

The school’s Facebook account published a message relating the sad news. It told how Omar was an “exemplary student” and role model.

“It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we inform you of the death of Omar Moujalled, one of our Year 12 students. Sadly, he passed away last night from a medical condition,” the post read.

“We ask that you remember him in your thoughts and prayers. Omar and his family will benefit greatly from Duaa and Sadaqah given on his behalf. We understand that this is the Qadar of Allah and death is inevitable, yet it is still difficult to face especially that of a young person.

“Grieving is a sign of mercy and we ask students and their families to use this opportunity to discuss the purpose of life and bring themselves closer to the Creator.

“Omar was an exemplary student, role-model and principled, who was previously part of the captaincy team and a much loved, respected student.”

Hope Carnevali died from an asthma attack on Monday. Picture: Facebook

‘IT HIT ME ALL OF A SUDDEN’

Others who suffered thunderstorm asthma told news.com.au symptoms hit as soon as the weather turned and half a tonne of pollen per hectare was swept in front of strong winds.

“I’ve never had asthma but do get hayfever, mainly itchy eyes and sneezes, but there were weirdly no other hay fever symptoms (on Monday),” Kate Craig, from Melbourne’s inner west, told news.com.au.

“It hit me all of a sudden about 7.30 last night, I felt like I couldn’t take a full breath and had an awful, chesty, hacking cough. I thought I must have just inhaled some spices while cooking — that’s what it felt like.”

Dan Rodgers said it was the first time since childhood that he suffered asthma.

“It just surprises you. Many experiencing the same thing may never have had asthma before, so are freaking out ’cause they don’t know why they can’t breathe.”

He said symptoms were continuing on Tuesday morning. It’s a common story, but before Monday it was something many Melburnians had never heard about.

Gary Nunn said he was in transit when he began to have trouble breathing.

“I’d had bad hayfever all day in Melbourne. In the early evening I got to Melbourne Airport and noticed a new symptom: I was struggling to breathe. This had never happened before,” he said.

Omar died on Monday on the way to hospital. Picture: Facebook

“It got worse, to the point I was wheezing and finding it hard to catch my breath. It went on for a while so I panicked a bit but then thought, just harden up, it’s just a cough. I slept it off on the plane but still felt odd.”

John Weiner, a consultant physician at AllergyNet, said Monday’s conditions were “the perfect storm” for people susceptible to hay fever. He said Melbourne was susceptible because it was surrounding by bushland and parks and winds from the north carried with them huge amounts of allergens.

He said the symptoms are the same as typical asthma but “it’s a dramatic event for people who haven’t had asthma before because it occurs so suddenly”.

Australia’s Climate Council said on Tuesday Australians “can expect more extreme weather events that place pressure on the health sector” in the coming years.

The council said climate change would increase the annual frequency of potentially severe thunderstorms by 30 per cent for Sydney, 22 per cent for Melbourne and 14 per cent for Brisbane by the end of the century.

“As we can see through this ‘thunderstorm asthma’ incident in Melbourne, these pressures won’t necessarily manifest in predictable ways,” CEO Amanda McKenzie said.

“So while we can prepare the health sector and emergency services, we also have to treat the actual problem.”

The coroner is investigating the two deaths resulting from Monday’s storm.

The view from Eureka Tower as the storm descends on Melbourne. Picture: Norm Oorloff