The hearts of everyone at The Kids Research Institute Australia, and especially the Children’s Lung Health team, go out to the family and friends of Lachlan Hernaman, who died suddenly on April 30 after collapsing during football training in his home town of Harvey.
Young Lockie, aged 20, was a survivor of very preterm birth, having been born in 1998 at 29 weeks’ gestation weighing just 1100 grams. He was also a long-term participant in lung health research at the Institute, as part of the Western Australian Lung Health in Preterm (WALHIP) cohort.
WALHIP is a cohort of survivors of very preterm birth whose progress the Institute’s researchers have been following since the early 2000s. Participants have been studied during early childhood and mid-childhood, and are currently being recruited for their adolescent/early adulthood visit.
Co-head of Children’s Lung Health, Dr Shannon Simpson, said Lockie had been due to return to the Institute for his early adulthood visit in the coming weeks, continuing his longstanding commitment to the research. The team had been immensely saddened to learn of his death.
“Lockie was a selfless and willing participant in important research, whose contribution has helped to grow our understanding of how the lungs develop during childhood following very preterm birth,” Dr Simpson said.
“We never underestimate the generosity and commitment involved in taking part in research – especially in a longitudinal cohort like this one, where we are essentially following participants throughout their life.
“Without people like Lockie dedicating their time over and again, we wouldn’t know nearly as much as we do now about these little fighters.
“The Kids and the Children’s Lung Health Team are profoundly grateful to Lockie and his family for all that he’s done for medical research, and extend our condolences to them and the entire community of Harvey, where we know he was deeply loved.”
