Grandma mourns teenage bushwalk victim

The grandmother of teenage bushwalker David Iredale has told of her heartache
following the inquest into his death.
Maria Curmi said she was devastated throughout the inquest that revealed David had
died alone in the NSW Blue Mountains despite frantic calls to triple-zero.
"I've got a hole in my heart. I don't know how I went through this," a tearful Mrs
Curmi told Macquarie Radio.
She said she was extremely proud of her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Anne and
Stephen Iredale, for their strength and grace throughout the distressing period.
She described her 17-year-old grandson as a generous and warm-hearted boy whose
memory would always live on.
"He was a beautiful boy. As soon as I got there, 'Nanna I make you cup of coffee,'
straight away. He was such a beautiful boy we lost. He's going to be hard to
forget," she said.
The coroner on Thursday recommended a major overhaul of emergency call centre
operations, after evidence that David was treated with a lack of empathy by
triple-zero operators, who failed to pass on vital information.
David died in December 2006 after becoming separated from his two Sydney Grammar
School mates during a planned three-day trek in hot weather.
He made five frantic mobile phone calls to triple-zero for help but died of
dehydration shortly after the last of those conversations.