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A 21-year-old Sunshine Coast man left in a critical condition with a severe brain injury after a scooter crash in Bali has died.
Jacob Mabb was flown into Brisbane on Saturday morning in a critical condition after receiving treatment on the Indonesian island for almost a week.
Carlene Sherwell from XL Surfing Academy has worked with Jacob for more than five years, where he coached aspiring surfers — including "grommets" as young as five.
She describes an "exceptional" boy who became an honest, trustworthy man with a "heart of gold".
Ms Sherwell and husband Robbie, along with sons Joel and Josh, began working with Jacob as a 16-year-old and have watched him grow.
"He was just such a genuine, softly spoken young man," she said.
"He touched a lot of hearts for someone so young, I can tell you that much. Especially young, little kids.
"He showed his true personality with them — just a heart of gold.
Ms Sherwell said Jacob's death was a really sad loss.
"My son said to me yesterday: 'You know when you really love and care about someone by how you grieve'.
"It's really hard to comprehend because at the moment we're walking around in a surreal state, just trying to keep it together and remember him.
"What I'm going to remember and what I'm going to hold on to for the rest of my life is the smile he had every time we saw him."
A plea from friends to help bring the University of the Sunshine Coast A-Grade rugby union player home from Bali after the incident raised more than $37,000 in just 24 hours.
It has now raised more than $50,000.
After he arrived at Royal Brisbane Hospital on a LifeFlight air ambulance jet, Jacob's father Steve said he had been told his son had a "10 per cent chance" of emerging from his coma.
He also thanked the Sunshine Coast community for the way it supported his boy.
"It has been amazing, the support so far, and it blows my mind how people that I don't know — that maybe know him or maybe don't — that have been very supportive," Mr Mabb said at the time.
"We really appreciate all the support from people on the coast.
"We have been blown away by what people are capable of."
Topics: accidents, travel-health-and-safety, travel-and-tourism, health, health-insurance, healthcare-facilities, federal-government, community-and-society, family-and-children, maroochydore-4558, bali, indonesia, australia, qld, brisbane-4000
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