Jamie Dowsett touched the lives of hundreds of people in his community before suffering a stroke that would end his life prematurely on May 9.
The 35-year-old leaves behind his wife Bianca and four children aged four to 11.
Bianca’s sister Belinda Ditrih remembers her brother-in-law as a devoted family man.
“My fondest memories of him are when there’s a bunch of guys sitting around at an event having a drink, and you’d look around and see Jamie sticking by his family,” she reminisced.
“That spoke to who he was, and I had great admiration for that because his priority was his family, and he would make sure that their every need was looked after.”
He was also very involved in his church and devoted himself to his Catholic faith.
“There were 700 people at his funeral. He was just an honest, genuine guy,” she said.
Jamie first fell ill on April 28 and finished work early due to nausea and a headache. He went to bed and woke up in the early hours of April 29.
“When he woke up, he was stumbling and couldn’t walk straight, and he said to Bianca they need to go to the hospital,” Ditrih told the Weekender.
“My mum came straight over to watch the kids while they went to the hospital, and at that stage he was slurring his speech, he had a headache, he was stumbling, and he couldn’t feel the left side of his body.”
Nepean Hospital confirmed Jamie had suffered a stroke and arranged for him to be transported by helicopter to Royal North Shore Hospital where he was placed in Intensive Care. He had two aneurysms in his brain and a blood clot.
“It was a small bleed on the brain that caused the stroke,” Ditrih explained.
“Now their four children need to have yearly MRI’s because the aneurysms are hereditary.”
The tragedy has rocked the St Clair family, and they are fighting to raise awareness so this fate doesn’t befall anyone else.
“We feel the need to spread the word that you need to get in early to detect these things. Jamie had no idea he was going to have an aneurysm,” Ditrih stated.
“People need to get checked if they have a family history or health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or a high stress life. There’s also risk factors like being overweight, diabetic, over the age of 50, or a smoker or drinker.”
The Dowsett family hope to raise awareness and funds for stroke research by encouraging people to donate to the Royal North Shore Hospital’s neuroscience department online at https://northfoundation.org.au/facilities/royal-north-shore-hospital.
Alternatively, you can donate to Stroke Foundation at https://strokefoundation.org.au/ to honour Jamie’s memory.
Ally Hall
Ally Hall joined the Weekender in 2024, and focuses on entertainment and community stories. She's a graduate of the University of South Australia and has previously worked as a Video Journalist with Southern Cross Austereo and as a News Reader with Australian Radio Network.