There’s an unbearable silence where Will Harrison’s laugh used to be.
You could always hear him coming well before he ever arrived, according to his mum Tracey Harrison.
He’d roar into the family’s property at Burrumbuttock in his ute with the music blaring and a story at the ready.
Stories, well Will had them in spades, particularly if they were horse or history related!
“He filled any silence with conversation and with his stories, he was funny and he was a great mimic,” Tracey says.
“He would sit here with his dad (Steve) and talk about saddles and cowboy stuff. Just catch up …”
The irrepressible Will – renowned for the way he could handle a difficult or young horse – could often be found riding around the paddock next door to their home.
“I’d be outside in the garden and you’d hear him – he’d be on the phone talking at 200 decibels or he’d have the music going,” Tracey says.
“One of the things I just miss so much is that sound, his voice and his laugh, which was very contagious. The silence is a big deal for us without Will, and it’s something we are really struggling with.”
Will, 28, died of a sudden asthma attack on December 23, 2023. Just hours earlier, he’d been celebrating Christmas with his family and girlfriend Sarah, seemingly well and full of his usual energy and antics.
But when the attack came later that night, it came quickly. Will deteriorated rapidly. He died by the side of a country road on the way to the hospital, before the ambulance could reach him, while Sarah desperately tried to save him.
His death is a devastating reminder of the very real and present danger of a condition that claims the lives of more than 400 people in Australia each year and brings daily, debilitating challenges to millions more.
Asthma Australia warns that spring is one of the most dangerous times of the year for people with asthma, with high pollen counts and the start of the bushfire season affecting air quality.
It is a critical battleground for Asthma Australia, which has spent the past 60 years helping thousands of families manage the condition while funding vital research towards a cure.
The Harrison family have bravely added their voices to an awareness campaign, urging people to get to know their condition, to understand the seriousness of asthma, to heed the signs and prepare properly for an attack (including having medication on hand).
Will’s older sister Georgia, who also developed asthma as a child, recalls the night their lives changed forever.
“The thing is you just always think that when you have an attack you’ll still be OK, or you hope you’ll still be OK,” the Jindera mum of three says.
“Getting a call from Mum in the middle of the night is just not normal. Still, you never imagine it could be that bad. The hardest part was to awake to daylight and have to explain it to the kids …
“But what I think about the most is that if those 20 minutes didn’t exist he’d still be here.”
For Tracey and Steve, the death of their larger-than-life son is still unimaginable.
“It’s hard to describe living with the loss,” Tracey says. “It’s just this big heavy boulder that just sits in your guts.”
The round yard where Steve and Will spent so much time wrangling and talking horses stands largely empty.
But the mementoes and memories loom large – belt buckles from Will’s wins in junior Man From Snowy River, paintings depicting his time as a ringer up north, texts and photos of anything and everything this larrikin cowboy had taken an interest in.
Tracey misses so many things about her son. It’s an anguished emptiness no mother should have to face, the grief compounded on every milestone day.
Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day … Christmas is especially hard.
Will’s death has left so much more than an empty place at the table, or a dusty unused saddle sitting forlornly in a tack shed.
“Will used to fill the room,” Tracey says.
“I’m never going to hear his laughter again or the sound of his voice.
“I’m never going to hear him arrive in a ute with the music blaring.
“I’ll never hear him shouting out from the horse yard to the house, and I’ll never hear him say ‘Love ya Mum’ as he says goodbye.”
To donate or find out more about the Asthma Australia Spring Appeal visit the website.
Original Article published by Jodie O’Sullivan on Region Riverina.
