THE SHOCKING and tragic death of James Tate on Friday, January 24 has saddened the Tweed Coast community, after he suffered a mysterious cardiac arrest on Tuesday, January 21.
James’ sister Pamala Kill has setup a GoFundMe page for his wife and young daughter Bec and Lillie, which has now reached $47,000 with a target of $50,000.
“On January 21 James, Bec and Lillie (pictured below) were at home enjoying being a beautiful family, when James suffered a sudden cardiac arrest,” Mrs Kill wrote.
“Bec saved James’ life by giving him CPR for around 25 minutes until the help of paramedics arrived.
“Paramedics have defibrillated James’ heart before he was transported to Tweed Heads Hospital in a serious condition and was later transferred to John Flynn Intensive Care Unit for treatment.”
James was put in an induced coma to allow him to recover and heal and it was unknown what caused the healthy 31-year-old to have the sudden heart attack. Given the fact that heart attack symptoms tend to vary from person to person, it was all the more incomprehensible.
The family were holding on for James to make a slow recovery until the shocking news of his passing came on Friday, January 24.
“It is with complete devastation and sadness that I post this update: Our beautiful James passed away on Friday, January 27,” Mrs Kill said.
“He fought so hard to hang on for five days and gave everyone the chance to say their goodbyes.
“You will forever be in all our hearts, we are all better people for knowing you.
“We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for all the wonderful and generous donations received to date.
“Please keep them coming in and keep up the sharing on Facebook to support his amazing wife Beck and beautiful daughter Lillie.”
James’ death is a massive shock to the Tweed Coast community as he was heavily involved in the local community, volunteering as a lifesaver on the Tweed Coast and a member of the Cabarita Boardriders.
James’ funeral was held on (today) Thursday, February 2, and the surfing and lifesaving community will come together with a paddle out at 8am on Saturday, February 4 at Hastings Point headland to honour their mate.
To make a donation visit https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-james-tate