Rare case of woman's sudden death after international holiday sparks warning to Aussies
Christine Visnjic, a healthy and hard-working 24-year-old from Sydney, had just returned from a trip to Japan when she collapsed on the side of the road.
Excited to see what her future holds, Christine Visnjic sat down at the beginning of the new year and wrote a list of goals. In 2025, the healthy, happy and hard-working 24-year-old from western Sydney vowed to learn more about her heritage by exploring the “old country” in Europe and to spend more time with her mum.
Tragically, the young woman had no idea that just days later her life would be cut short by deep vein thrombosis (DVT) — a serious condition often related to plane travel in which a blood clot forms in a major blood vessel.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s just unbelievable,” her brother Jason Visnjic told Yahoo News Australia. “Who would’ve thought — 24 years old and getting a blood clot that becomes so fatal.”
Aussie woman collapses 30 minutes after complaining of leg pain
On the morning of January 10, Christine, who returned home from a three-week trip to Japan a month prior, woke up early and lounged in her bed. At about 8am a nagging pain in one of her legs forced her to call out for her mum.
Worried by its swollen and red appearance, Christine was ushered into her dad’s car so he could drive her to Westmead Hospital to get it checked out.
“She walked out, seemed to have a little bit of discomfort but was not in great pain or anything, walked to the car and told my brother to make sure to cancel her beautician appointment,” Jason said, adding his sibling appeared to be totally fine while out celebrating his birthday the night before.
“Westmead Hospital is only about 2km from us, but about 500 meters down the road she told my dad to stop the car to vomit. So he stopped the car, he opened the door, she shifted herself to lean over the side, and then she experienced a seizure.”
Just 30 minutes after she complained about feeling unwell, an unconscious Christine fell to her knees on the bitumen, prompting two nurses who were in the car behind her to jump out and help.
DVT sparks bilateral stroke, leaving woman brain dead
An ambulance arrived soon after and rushed the 24-year-old Amazon manager into the emergency department where doctors worked to stabilise her. “When that was happening she experienced a 40-minute cardiac arrest,” her brother explained.
Scans later revealed Christine had suffered a bilateral stroke, disrupting blood flow to both sides of her brain. “There was a blood clot in her leg that broke off and travelled up to her lung, then to her heart and then to her brain,” Jason said.
With no family history of blood clots, the young woman’s stunned family and doctors turned to each other for possible answers — but the exact cause remains a mystery.
“I was talking to a doctor and I asked him ‘how often do you see this?’ and he said to me ‘a case like this, we do know about it in literature…in my career of 44 years in the ICU, this is the second time’ and he started crying,” Jason said.
Dad snaps haunting photo of daughter minutes before 'freak' collapse in park
Warning after mum dies at daughter's birthday from common party trick
After 72 hours, scans revealed Christine was brain dead and her shocked family made the heartbreaking decision to take her off life support.
“We embraced her and watched her pass. For about 20 minutes her heart was independent and we just slowly saw it all go away — and she doesn’t even know,” Jason told Yahoo, adding they declined to do an autopsy “as she passed beautifully”.
While Christine’s family continue to search for answers surrounding her sudden death, her brother said he hopes they can “at least echo a message to all the young women and men out there” to be on alert for any health issues and live their life to the fullest.
“Don’t just go chasing work. There are many lessons to take away. Luckily for her, Christine still managed to enjoy her life till her prime, both at career and social level.”
The 24-year old’s devastated co-workers have helped Jason create a GoFundMe so they can all pitch in for a headstone to honour their “cherished” friend.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
