A young man with a disability has died after he was detained by transit guards at a Perth train station on Friday night.
Per The West Australian, paramedics were called to Perth underground train station around 8.20pm on June 16 to find 24-year-old Josh unresponsive.
The young man, who was diagnosed with Sotos syndrome, died before he reached Royal Perth Hospital.
People With Disability Australia vice president Samantha Connor told 6PR Breakfast on Monday that neither she, nor Josh’s family, knew why Public Transport Authority officers detained him.
“He apparently had an altercation, was handcuffed, experienced a medical episode and died, and was dead on arrival at the hospital shortly thereafter,” Connor said.
“He was a vulnerable young man, he could need support for aggression if he became frustrated or angry, especially in public places or in noisy places.
“His mum said if he’d had a support worker with him, he just wouldn’t have died.”
According to Connor, Josh had a heart condition associated with his medical condition, and the National Disability Insurance Scheme had recently knocked back his family’s funding request for supported independent living.
“The small amount of funding that he had per day wasn’t enough to cover his needs around supervision,” she said.
“It’s just a really sad, sad case and evidences that people aren’t getting the support that they need.”
In a statement to 6PR Breakfast, the PTA said it was cooperating with police in the matter.
“They have seen the CCTV, which they reviewed in detail on Friday night,” the statement read.
“We will not comment further as the matter will be the subject of a coronial investigation.”
Connor said the young man’s loved ones want answers to “why a family is going to be burying a young person who should be alive right now”.
Image credit: iStock / BeyondImages
