Chris Tyndall attempted to ring for an ambulance “three or four times” during a prolonged bout of flu symptoms and said when he called triple zero he was left with no sound whatsoever.
Tyndall, who has an extensive history of heart issues, said the outage was so bad he was questioning if his phone was broken.
The death toll of the network outage has now risen to four.
Optus first announced the fault led to three deaths, which were found to include an eight-week-old boy from Gawler West in South Australia, a 68-year-old woman from the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown and a 74-year-old man from Willetton, Western Australia.
Yesterday, WA Premier Roger Cook’s office and WA Police revealed a 49-year-old from Perth also died after he unsuccessfully tried to contact Triple Zero.
Optus said it was “saddened to learn of a new fatality in Western Australia” but would “continue to work with WA Police” to investigate the death.
“I am deeply saddened by this further news and extend my heartfelt condolences to the person’s family and friends,” Optus CEO Stephen Rue said in a statement.
“As stated earlier today I have asked for a full review into the circumstances relating to the failed network upgrade and impact on the Triple Zero network.
“I will also be working with my board and executive team to enable a full independent review of the entire incident including all the impacts and related information. This includes working closely with relevant agencies to establish the full facts.”
