His new wife and three young children are mourning a much-loved Australian dad who died unexpectedly just 18 months after getting married.
Jake Mumberson, from Gledswood Hills in Sydney’s south-west, died after suffering a heart attack on November 1, just 11 days before his 32nd birthday.
He and his wife Cassie, 29, had just married 18 months earlier when he became a father to her two children, Zak and Nix, from a previous relationship.
“They called him dad,” Mumberson told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday. The couple also share a two-year-old daughter, Willow.
Mumberson, who ran his own fencing and landscaping business, was in hospital for an unrelated condition when he died last week.
“Two hours after being there, he collapsed and went into cardiac arrest,” Mrs Mumberson said. “It was completely unexpected.”
Tragically, Jake had previously had his heart examined after his mother died of a heart attack three years ago, but “everything was back to normal.”
Mumberson said it was “terrible” to have to break the news to her children.
Jake and Cassie Mumberson are pictured with their two sons from a previous marriage, Nix and Zak, and two-year-old daughter Willow, before their tragic deaths.
Mumberson, from Gledswood Hills in Sydney’s southwest, died after suffering a heart attack in hospital on November 1, just 11 days before his 32nd birthday.
“Jake’s grandmother also passed away last year and the children loved her very much,” Mrs Mumberson said.
‘So we just told them that he is now in heaven with her and her mom. That’s what we told you.’
He said younger children don’t really understand that their father is gone.
‘Not my daughter, she’s two years old. My son, who is six years old, understands it but at the same time he doesn’t understand it. But my nine year old son does. It definitely does.’
Mumberson said she is still coming to terms with her husband’s death.
‘Am still in great shock. I’m on a rollercoaster of emotions. “I’m sad and then I cry and then I’m happy and then I don’t know, everything is everywhere,” he said.
The sudden loss meant Mumberson has not yet made plans for a funeral.
To help the family during a time of incredible stress, family friend Millie Jadrijevic has created a GoFundMe.
“Jake was unexpectedly and unfairly separated from his beloved wife Cass, Zak and Nix, whom he wholeheartedly treated as his own beautiful daughter Willow,” Jadrijevic wrote.
“His journey and the next chapter of his life were abruptly cut short.”
Mumberson has been described as a “devoted young husband, father, son and brother.”
The father of three is pictured with his beloved daughter Willow on Christmas 2023.
Ms Mumberson said her children don’t really understand that he is gone (family pictured)
Jadrijevic said Mumberson was a “dear and devoted young husband, father, son, brother and friend.”
“As Cass faces the task of forging a future without Jake by her side, life feels daunting and uncertain,” she wrote.
Jadrijevic said her friend now has to “get over the loss of her husband while striving to provide the best for her three beautiful children.”
“Every donation makes a difference in supporting Cass on this path to healing, allowing her the time needed to regain balance,” he added.
‘Fly high, Jake. Take care of Cass and your precious children.