Father dies on Kokoda, trekking for his little girl
The Age
Monday September 28, 2009
PAUL Bradfield was not a man who took something for nothing. Eight days ago the 38-year-old father of four daughters set out on a gruelling 96-kilometre hike through some of the world's most rugged and remote terrain to raise money for children with cancer.His youngest, Haidee, had battled leukaemia for two years, finally reaching remission, and he wanted to give something back to the community.But yesterday, Mr Bradfield, a Woolworths manager from Townsville, became the third Australian this year to die on the Kokoda Track, after suffering a cardiac arrest in the early hours of the morning.He had been travelling with 12 trekkers from the children's cancer group Camp Quality. Late on Saturday night, he was heard to make a strange noise in his sleep. "Somebody went over to check on him and unfortunately he'd passed away," his boss, Paul Bradsworth, said. "He was just an absolute beautiful human being . . . a very, very family-oriented man that was prepared to help anybody at any time."In April, Samantha Killen, 36, from Victoria, became the first Australian to die on the track this year. Just days later, Tasmanian Chris Frost, 26, died on the track in extreme heat.
© 2009 The Age
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