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"Bubble boy" Thomas Collins dies after being unable to return home to QLD

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>A young boy who struggled with an auto-immune disease for most of his life passed away on Saturday.</p> <p>Thomas Collins was just 3 years old when he died after being diagnosed with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) just days after he was born.</p> <p>The deficiency means he has no ability to fight off diseases and makes the risk of infections life-threatening.</p> <p>He spent 858 days in the hospital and was kept in a "plastic bubble" to stop him from catching diseases.</p> <p>Tom's conditions worsened while in a Melbourne hospital and the young family weren't able to move back to Queensland for support from their other family members due to COVID-19 restrictions.</p> <p>Tom's parents Leah and Morgan Collins have been fighting for their son to be let into Brisbane as he was nearing the end of his days but were unable to get a response from Queensland Health in time.</p> <p>The reason the family were in Melbourne was due to a specialist in a Melbourne hospital being the only person who could deliver the treatment Tom needed.</p> <p>The family shared their heartbreak on Facebook.</p> <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Ftomsbattle%2Fposts%2F913107189094286&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=552&amp;height=760&amp;appId" width="552" height="760" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe> <p>“It is with deepest sorrow and fractured hearts that we tell you of Thomas’s passing this evening,” the Collins family posted on Facebook.</p> <p>“He passed peacefully in the arms of his parents.</p> <p>“Despite our best efforts we were unable to get him home to Queensland.</p> <p>“No response from Qld was received in time. We understood the potential conditions were very distressing and would have separated our family during transport.</p> <p>“We would then be forced to quarantine in the room he would have passed in as he was unlikely to survive 14 days quarantine.</p> <p>“We chose to do what our son needed most, which was to be with his parents in a peaceful environment to the end. We were able to do that for him.”</p> <p>“Sadly, we now have a choice between 14-day hotel quarantine, or wait 14 days south of the border to get back to Queensland, via NSW,” they said.</p> <p>“We wished we could be surrounded by family during this time but this is the hand we have been dealt.”</p> </div> </div> </div>

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85 plumbers on board flight unable to fix plane's broken toilet

<p><span>A Norwegian Air flight had to turn around shortly after take-off due to a problem with the toilets, despite there being 85 plumbers on board.</span></p> <p><span>On Saturday, the plane travelling to Munich from Oslo was already 34 minutes late but didn’t get past the Swedish border after experiencing a problem with the toilets, reported Norwegian newspaper <em>Dagablat.</em></span></p> <p><span>“It is true that DY1156, who was to fly from Oslo to Munich, had to turn to Oslo again when they found a mistake on the toilets on board. The plane had to circulate over Hedmark to get rid of fuel so it was not too heavy to land,” communications adviser Fatima Elkadi told <em>Dagbladet.</em></span></p> <p><span>The plan seats 186 passengers and 60 to 70 of those on board were plumbers all from the same company, with others from the industry onboard as well.</span></p> <p><span>The plumbers were on their way to a trip to Munich with their company.</span></p> <p><span>“We would have liked to fix the rest rooms, but unfortunately it had to be done from the outside and we did not take the opportunity to send a plumber [out] at 10,000 metres,” the CEO of the plumbing company, Frank Olsen, told the paper.</span></p> <p><span>A spokesman from Norwegian Air said the aircraft was fixed and continued on a flight later the same day.</span></p> <p><span>“We would like to thank passengers for their patience and would like to apologise for the inconvenience,” the spokesman said.</span></p>

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