in 1967, at the age of 29, o'brien collapsed on stage during a performance, and years later would die due to complications after an appendicitis operation. storm disbanded the hurricanes and became a disc jockey, working at the silver blades ice rink in liverpool, in benidorm (he was also a water-skiing instructor there) in jersey and amsterdam. when storm's father died, he returned from amsterdam to liverpool to be with his mother. he developed a chest infection and could not sleep properly, so he took sleeping pills. on 28 september 1972, storm and his mother were both found dead, at "hurricaneville". the post mortem revealed that storm had alcohol and sleeping pills in his blood (as had his mother) but not enough to cause his death, which was ruled accidental. although it could not be proven, it is thought that his mother had committed suicide after finding storm's body.