Michelle’s story

Michelle loved her career as a community services team leader, but at 49 she was starting to look forward to winding back work and moving into retirement. She and husband, David, had plans to travel, while their two children, Sam and Kate, would be well and truly finished their Uni studies in nursing and psychology respectively. Michelle was in good health for her age, with no major health issues or conditions, and
maintained her regular fitness routine of yoga and Body Pump classes.

However, one tragic day changed Michelle and her family’s lives forever. Catching her usual train to work, Michelle suffered a sudden and major brain haemorrhage, falling into a coma. Given her good state of health, there was nothing in Michelle’s medical background that could have provided any warning. Michelle was taken to hospital and her condition pronounced grave. She was placed on life support and David, Sam and Kate rushed to her side, where they kept a bedside vigil. Michelle’s condition didn’t improve, and doctors stated she would not recover. The family finally made the difficult decision to switch off Michelle’s life support.

Working in the healthcare industry, Michelle had always understood the importance of insurance cover and had previously taken the simple step of making a binding nomination on her death cover. This meant her death cover of $613,900 and super account balance of $114,700, a total of $728,600, was able to be quickly paid to David.

The money provided David with some financial relief in his time of grief as he sought
to make arrangements for his and his children’s future. The funds have also assisted Sam and Kate to complete their health-based university studies, which they returned to with renewed focus in honour of their mother.