When I met with Russell on the ward as he recovered from his eventful stay in ICU, I was struck by his positivity. Russell knew his heart was already struggling to pump before going in for major cardiac valve surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. However, he said, “to be honest I was probably a bit blasé about the treatment”. “The information was really excellent” as he was informed by his surgeon that he might need a special machine to keep him alive post the surgery.

Fast forward to the day of surgery and Russell did indeed need to go on to Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) support for a whole week to support his organs whilst his heart recovered. Whilst his treating team worked tirelessly to keep him alive, including a return to theatre, he remembers “wondering why he had a tube in his throat” and had some truly vivid dreams including being a formula F1 driver, playing basketball for the LA Lakers and being on a ship that functioned as a hospital! Luckily he describes the ICU experience as positive and enjoyable.

When he came off the ECMO machine and ventilator, he was struck with the “positivity and drive, all the way from the doctors to the support staff”. He described the care as “beyond belief” and is truly grateful.

Russell hopes to one day write an essay about his experience which we very much look forward to reading!

The team thoroughly enjoyed looking after Russell and wish him all the best for the rest of his journey.