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Two young Perth men with muscular dystrophy died after they were unable to breathe or alert their carer when the machine that kept them alive stopped working during a tornado.
The medical equipment that the two 25-year-olds depended on did not have back-up electricity after the tornado downed power lines, a grieving friend said.
Housemates Kyle Scolari and Conor Murphy died in their Beaconsfield residence on Monday morning as the freak storm, packing wind speeds well exceeding 125km/h, hit nearby Hilton and O'Connor.
Their coach and close friend Hayden Stevens said the men had some independence, playing sport and taking part in social activities, but when they slept, they were dependent on a machine that helped them breathe as they lay flat in bed.
"Unfortunately when the power goes out, the machine doesn't have the back-up supply and your bed doesn't work so they couldn't get their beds up so they were stuck flat," Stevens told Fairfax radio on Tuesday.
"Their beeper turned off and unfortunately, they couldn't rouse the carer.
"It was completely out of the blue to wake up and hear that a storm had ... taken them from us."
Stevens, who also has muscular dystrophy, said the condition was tough to live with.
"It takes all your muscle movement so you're pretty much confined to your electric wheelchair. You can't lift your arms up. You really can't do anything for yourself, so the carer is pretty much what's keeping you alive."
He said Scolari and Murphy's soccer teammates, who recently competed with them in a national competition, were in shock.
Murphy was an electoral staffer for the federal Labor MP for Fremantle, Melissa Parke, who said his death was “totally tragic”.
"He was a wonderful member of our team and he's a great example of how people with disability can contribute to the workforce in the same way as anyone else," she said.
West Australian police are investigating the deaths, which are not being treated as suspicious, and will prepare a report for the coroner.
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