In the Blink of an Eye: The Story of Mia Austin and Her Triumph over Locked-In Syndrome

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The two of them are as thick as thieves and they are always scheming or planning something - they are planning on going to Sri Lanka together at the moment. Unfortunately, her maiden campaign stopped there due to a syndesmosis injury, but even that was enough of a sample size to show what Carlton fans can hope to see from Austin for years to come in the Navy Blue. Everyday things we take for granted like speech and communication etc she had to find in a completely different way.

While it took Austin until Round 3 to impact the scoreboard, it has been nothing but impressive progress since, with her fourth two-goal effort of 2023 coming against Greater West Sydney in Round 8 and earning her an AFLW Rising Star nomination. While Mia can see, hear, and think as normal, she cannot move from the neck down and has to be fed through a tube. A young woman choked to death on a marshmallow after trying to copy a challenge on TV's Love Island, an inquest heard. She would also want to make sure the platform that being Merseyside Woman of the Year provides would be used to do good things in our region, which is why we are delighted to pass on that mantle to Laura Hughes.A woman with locked-in syndrome choked to death after trying to emulate the “ marshmallow challenge” made famous on Love Island. Her friend Ben, posted a statement on her Mountains for Mia page: "Unfortunately on Wednesday, Mia lost her life, in the place she loved the most, Abersoch. She continued to travel and undertook lots of charity work, including sleeping out on the streets of Liverpool to raise money and awareness of homelessness. I just wanted to go back and have fun and enjoy footy, because I feel like that’s when I play my best”. Gab Pound speaks to Carlton Media about looking ahead to Round 9 and how there is still plenty to play for.

During her time on the sidelines, Austin was able to tap into the knowledge of the experienced Carlton forward line, with Jess Dal Pos, Brea Moody, Phoebe McWilliams and Darcy Vescio being the sounding boards for the 19-year-old. She said there had been previous choking incidents, including another at the holiday park when she choked on a burger. At the start, I didn’t really know how to handle it but I feel like now I am taking it on as a challenge and just trusting what I’ve worked on,” she said. The hearing was told Mia's carer offered to cut the sweet before placing it in her mouth but Mia shook her head to say "no".

She was a party animal before her incident but she doesn’t let it stop her doing anything now, either - she doesn’t class herself as disabled.

Although she was left unable to speak, move and only able to communicate through eye movement, determined Mia pushed the boundaries to live her life to the full.She died just two days before she was named Merseyside Woman of 2019 for her charity work and had been excited at the prospect of attending the ceremony, the inquest heard.