TOM CONNELLAN’S life did a complete 180 degree turn just days before one of the
most crucial weeks of the VCE student’s life.
One day before he was meant to
sit his end-of-year Japanese oral exam in October, Tom awoke from a nap feeling
terribly ill.
“I had never felt like that before,” he said.
“I woke up
feeling feverish. I was cold but sweating at the same time and I just kept
vomiting and vomiting.”
A Year 12 student at St Mary MacKillop College, Tom
lives in Balranald, but boards in Swan Hill with Helen Hogan, who looks after
him.
“I went to Helen and just straight away said I need to go to hospital,”
he said.
Tom was admitted to hospital as his temperature hit 39.6C, and his
condition continued to worsen.
“I think the doctors thought I had gastro to
begin with,” he said.
During this time, with his final VCE exams on his mind
and the first exam scheduled for the following day, Tom experienced a panic
attack.
For more of this story, see Friday’s Guardian (December 20).
