'Fit and healthy' boy, 14, suddenly and unexpectedly dies in his sleep

23 August 2023 , 15:52

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William Pfeiffer was fit and healthy by all accounts before his sudden death aged 14 (Image: Go Fund Me)

A family has been torn apart after a perfectly healthy 14-year-old lad died suddenly in his sleep last Sunday.

William Pfeiffer, 14, has been remembered by his loved ones as a happy teenager with a bright smile that lit up the room. His parents, five siblings, grandparents and school friends have been left devastated, which is made even worse because there was no known previous medical history to explain his sudden death.

The boy, from South Australia, spent the last hours of his young life with his grandparents at their home in Adelaide. He was said to be in good spirits, laughing and enjoying their company. Family friend Nicole Baans summed up the family's pain in a fundraiser she set up to help "ease the financial burden" of burying their son.

Nicole wrote: "No parent should ever have to endure the loss of a child. I am reaching out to those who knew and loved William and his family in the hope that we can band together to ease the financial burden." In an interview with Yahoo News, Nicole added: "As far as we know, he was a perfectly fit and healthy 14-year-old, (there) was nothing wrong with him."

His school is holding a memorial in which students have been invited to wear colourful socks like William did (Go Fund Me)

His mum Karen Lynch and stepdad Mike Shaw are awaiting the results of an autopsy in the hopes of learning exactly what cut their son's life so dramatically short. Nicole went on, saying that the teen was known for wearing colourful socks, and that he was a "caring" and "sensitive" boy, like several other family members.

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Karen works for a volunteer organisation called Heartfelt, which takes photographs in hospitals after expectant parents experience stillbirth. They also capture pictures of children suffering with terminal illnesses. Speaking about the mum, Nicole said: "She's such a giving person for other families in their time of need. So it's just so sad that she now has to feel this pain herself."

His school, in Adelaide's Golden Gove area, said they plan to hold a memorial for him in which all students have been asked to wear colourful socks in memory of the 14-year-old's trademark.

Ryan Fahey