58-year-old Ranjith Peiris became the eighth victim of Melbourne’s freak thunderstorm on November 21.
Mr Peiris died on Tuesday in Melbourne’s Northern Hospital eight days after he lost consciousness during one hour wait for an ambulance to arrive at his Roxburgh Park home.
Mr Peiris was in the intensive care unit of the hospital when he died.
Roshan, Mr Peiris’ son, told the Herald Sun his father fell unconscious after 45 of struggling with asthma.
“All up, we waited an hour and 10 minutes, and my dad was conscious for about 45 minutes trying to breathe,” he said.
“They (triple 0 dispatchers) kept saying on the phone, ‘They are on their way’. But he never recovered from that time.”
Ambulance Victoria on Tuesday said an official investigation would be carried out.
One more person is fighting for life in ICU as a result of the weather event.
Victoria’s health department said 12 people are receiving treatment of respiratory and other related problems.
Earlier, Victoria’s health minister Jill Hennessey told ABC that the ambulance service was overstretched due to the unprecedented situation. She said the emergency situation could not be foreseen.
Last week, a cool change, coupled with strong winds, high pollen count and moisture triggered respiratory problems for thousands of people. Nearly 8,500 people attended hospital emergencies as a result of the event.
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