by Emma Ballingall
A heartbroken Drouin family has urged first-time parents to undergo first aid training the day after the funeral of their cheeky and adventurous twin son.

Jeremiah Soa, just 11-months-old, died after choking on a popcorn kernel as the family of six relaxed at home on a normal Sunday.
"It happened so fast," mum Kirra-Lea Williamson said as she reflected on the events of two weeks earlier.
"It was a normal day. Jeremiah slept longer than usual, wasn't sick, woke up fine."
Jeremiah and his twin Elijah had just eaten some cucumber and apple whilst dad Marshall and eight-year-old sister Ebony prepared and began eating popcorn. Another sibling, two-year-old Leilani was asleep.
Somehow a popcorn kernel dropped on the floor, landing just under the couch.
"Jeremiah just came along, the adventurous little boy, seen it and just grabbed it," Kirra-Lea said. "By the time we'd picked him up, he had already ate it."
Jeremiah instantly turned blue and floppy as Marshall worked to dislodge the kernel and Kirra-Lea called for an ambulance.
"It didn't work," she recalled. "He still wasn't breathing."
Marshall was able to dislodge the kernel in the 10 minutes before paramedics arrived, followed by a MICA unit and two off-duty paramedics. They all worked on Jeremiah before rushing him to West Gippsland Hospital.
After an agonising 40-minute wait at the hospital for news, Kirra-Lea said a part of her knew Jeremiah had been without air for too long when a paediatrician approached with the news.
"All she said was 'I'm so sorry' and we knew; we knew he was gone."
The family was told Jeremiah was unable to breathe for too long and suffered brain damage before going into cardiac arrest and having a heart attack.
Whilst they all struggle, Kirra-Lea said they believe Jeremiah chose to leave to save the family the agony of life support decisions and was in Heaven being cared for by the couple's deceased grandparents.
"That's kind of our way of getting through it. He's safe, he's in Heaven now."
"It's been tough," she said. "I think I'm in a stage of it's not real.
"But we're trying to be strong for the other kids. It kind of feels like we don't have time to grieve properly."
In the week after Jeremiah's death, the family had to move out of their Drouin rental home after the owner sold it. Unable to secure another rental, they are staying in South Yarra with Marshall's parents in the interim.
"We have incredible family support, without them we wouldn't have got through it," Kirra-Lea said.
The brave mum said she wanted to share the family's story as a way to promote first aid amongst first-time parents, remember Jeremiah and thank the community for their generous support of a GoFundMe fundraiser.
"Jeremiah was very cheeky. Very adventurous. He had no fear, absolutely no fear at all.
"He had massive fear of missing out. The dominant twin of the two, he was the boss."
Anything ball related was a favourite toy and he could climb anything.
His twin brother Elijah now doesn't want to play, sleep or be put down, with Kirra-Lea saying "he knows."
To recognise Jeremiah's Samoan heritage, the family held a traditional dressing in the lead-up to Thursday's funeral.
During this, Kirra-Lea said Elijah started smiling and giggling as soon as he saw Jeremiah, trying to hold his hand and stay close.
The family praised the paramedics and hospital staff who did all they could to save Jeremiah.
However, she issued a warning to all parents - "choking incidents happen so quickly."
Marshall was forced to rely on first aid training learnt back in year 12, whilst Kirra-Lea had no training.
"Our biggest thing is we need to know CPR or first aid. It should be taught when you first have a baby."
She wants to advocate for it to be included - or at least offered or promoted - as part of child birth classes.
Kirra-Lea said she moved from Queensland to the Warragul area in 2017 and, after meeting her New Zealand partner in 2019, the couple had lived in Drouin for the past three years.
They praised the support offered by locals, particularly the staff and families of ILO Longwarry Early Learning Centre where Jeremiah attended.
Whilst initially hesitant for staff to open a GoFundMe fundraiser, Kirra-Lea thanked families who had supported and donated funds to help meet funeral and other costs.
She said the centre had called or emailed every day to check on the family and shut down to allow staff and families to attend Thursday's funeral.
The GoFundMe appeal had already attracted 121 donations, raising $5740, late last week.
If you wish to donate to the fundraiser, visit www.gofundme.com/f/jeremiah-soa