A Perth mother is warning people about a silent and common gene mutation that caused blood clots that killed her son.
Graham Wild, 15, had flown to Perth just after the end of the school year in Canberra and was walking near his mother’s house when he collapsed in late 2022..
The teen was almost home when he texted his mother Kathryn Robinson a one-word message: “HELP!”
Mrs. Robinson immediately called her son. He said his heart was racing, he was cold and clammy, and he was unable to get back home.
She said 7News she found her son near a neighbor’s house, sitting on the curb.
Graham Wild, 15, (pictured) collapsed during a walk and texted his mother for help. Things deteriorated in the hospital and doctors and nurses took turns performing CPR for an hour and a half
Graham (;eft) was remembered as a caring and mature son who loved football and tee-ball
They got into their car and ‘raced’ the six-minute drive to a hospital in Joondalup.
“They were doing an X-ray, and then his heart stopped,” she said.
Graham’s condition rapidly deteriorated and when doctors suspected he had a blood clot, the medicine to break it up was administered too late.
Doctors and nurses performed CPR for an hour and a half, but too much time had passed so even if he were revived, the teen would have suffered catastrophic brain damage.
Mrs Robinson stayed by her son’s side all night and returned home in the morning to break the devastating news to his siblings.
She said her caring adult son loved football and tee ball and wanted to open an animal shelter one day.
It took seven months to determine that Graham’s death was caused by a genetic mutation of the F5 gene, which provides instructions for making clotting protein factor V.
Graham’s mother Kathryn Robinson (pictured) wants other families to take a simple blood test that can detect the common condition, which affects one in 20 Australians. After Graham’s death, her family was tested and both she and her four-year-old daughter have the hidden gene
The condition is known as Factor V Leiden (FVL) and according to the… Perth Blood Instituteit increases the risk of someone developing blood clots, ‘especially in the legs and lungs’.
Once they discovered Graham’s cause of death, the family was tested for the condition and discovered that both Mrs Robinson and her four-year-old daughter had the gene mutation.
Professor Ross Baker, chairman of the Perth Blood Institute, said 7News one in twenty Australians has it.
“In families, one in two people will inherit it, so it’s very common,” he said.
Professor Baker said it is important that Australians with a history of thrombosis get a blood test to see if they have the hidden gene.
Ms Robinson said her family knew nothing about the test.
“I wish we had known that a simple blood test could possibly have saved our son’s life,” she said.
Graham (pictured) was walking near his mother’s house when he collapsed in late 2022
In retrospect, there had been some signs that all was not well for Graham.
When the science-loving teen, who loved anime, chess, ants and reptiles, stepped off the plane from Canberra, he had trouble breathing.
But because Graham suffered from asthma, he thought it was a minor flare-up and used his inhaler.
The morning he collapsed, he woke up later than usual feeling tired, but since he had been playing video games all night, no one was worried.
His devastated mother wants to raise awareness so that other families are tested for FVL and avoid the loss of a loved one due to uncontrolled blood clots.
The science-loving teen (center) also liked anime, chess, ants and reptiles