The Merriwagga farmer, who had a fatal allergy to bee stings, was bulldozing trees in a paddock on the afternoon of February 8 when the unthinkable happened.
Knowing he had less than ten minutes before he lapsed into unconsciousness, Grahame reached for his mobile phone to call for help.
It was a call he had made on four separate occasions in recent years; each time he called on a CDMA mobile, help arrived within minutes, adrenaline was administered and Grahame’s life was saved.
But this time, his Next G mobile phone spluttered and stalled.
Records from the phone’s call register show it took ten minutes and four unsuccessful calls for Grahame to summon help.
When it finally arrived, it was too late.
Now Grahame’s family and the small village of Merriwagga are bunkering down for a fight with telecommunications giant Telstra, saying if its promise of parity between Next G and CDMA were true, their mate would still be alive.
They want a phone tower built nearby to prevent a similar tragedy happening again.
“This issue is black and white. We used to be able to use CDMA here and we can’t use Next G as well and it’s cost Youngy his life. End of story,” long-time friend and Merriwagga man Brendan Appleby said.
“We’re always told that Next G is equivalent or better than CDMA and the experience of everyone here is the opposite. If Youngy had been able to get through on his first attempt, like he used to from that spot with his CDMA phone, he wouldn't have died.”
But according to Telstra CountryWide local area manager Andrew Cotterill, Mr Appleby’s claims simply aren’t backed up by testing or phone records.
Mr Cotterill and a Telstra engineer met with Mr Appleby and Carrathool shire general manager Ken Croskell in the days after Grahame’s death to discuss problems with the network.
“We took them on a drive test with a CDMA and Next G phone in many roads around the district,” Mr Cotterill said.
“On each occasion, Next G was better or the equivalent of CDMA and they all saw that.
“We also had our mobile technical division visit every public road in Merriwagga last week and it showed exactly the same thing.
“We express sympathy for the death of Grahame Young and our thoughts are with his family and the community.
“It’s understandable they are looking for answers but our testing couldn’t be clearer.”
Mr Cotterill also refuted call records from Grahame’s phone, saying Telstra’s own records showed the first call he made was answered at the hotel and lasted for more than 40 seconds before Grahame ended the call.
But it’s cold comfort for the family and friends of Grahame.
“You can measure signals and come up with all the technological data you want, but at the end of the day Grahame wouldn’t have died if he was still on the CDMA network,” he said.
“And with their testing, Telstra only went to the west side of town, not where Grahame died.
“And some days the signal is good and other days it isn’t. That testing proves nothing. The real evidence is the experience of people here in Merriwagga.”
Carrathool Shire mayor Peter Laird agreed, saying Next G was performing poorly across the entire region.
“There’s an issue with Next G reception on handhelds everywhere, not just Merriwagga,” Cr Laird said.
“The network is just not up to it.”
How the tragedy unfolded
6.08pm: Call for help to Black Stump Hotel. Unsuccessful.
6.09pm: Call made to friend John Wesley. Unsuccessful.
6.10pm: Call made to John Wesley. Unsuccessful
6.18pm: Call to Black Stump Hotel. Call answered by barmaid Allana Renton but dropped out.
6.18pm: Call to Black Stump Hotel. Call successful. Publican Sharon Stuart grabs medication and rushes to Mr Young’s aid.
6.26pm: Call to Black Stump Hotel from Ms Stuart requesting an ambulance. Mr Young is unconscious and attempts by her to resuscitate are unsuccessful.
Details obtained from the call register of Grahame Young’s Next G mobile phone. Disputed by Telstra.
IMAGE: Poor phone reception meant Grahame was unable to phone for help until it was too late.
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