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…

The day Ravinder walked back into the ICU feeling like a new man, he was filled with gratitude and respect for the staff who helped save his life. Ravinder’s story started with sudden chest pain followed by multiple prolonged cardiac arrests and interhospital transfer, ending up at St Vincent’s Melbourne.…

47yo Kashif was transferred to St Vincent’s Melbourne after a large heart attack and was found to have severe coronary artery disease, requiring open heart surgery. Whilst Kashif already had some significant risk factors such as being on long term dialysis, no one could have predicted the stormy course his…

What started with a faint at work led to one hospital, another and finally St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. By this time Steve was very unwell on life support and after much planning underwent major cardiac surgery to correct a faulty valve. He made an excellent recovery and was home at…

Eddie: an avid Tigers supporter, a runner and a legend! Unfortunately, being unvaccinated, Eddie’s body struggled to fight off COVID-19. The massive inflammatory response saw him fighting for his life on a ventilator, being flipped on his front by a team of nurses and doctors (“proning”) and being administered all…

Peter came into hospital to have major cardiac surgery to fix two heart valves. Unfortunately after the long surgery the right side of Peter’s heart started to fail. In the middle of the night, in an induced coma in the ICU, he was in a fight for his life. His…

At over 5 weeks into his ICU stay post major cardiac surgery, it’s safe to say that the road hasn’t been easy for Karl. Infections, pancreatitis, renal failure requiring dialysis, being fed intravenously and a slow respiratory wean via a tracheostomy are all hurdles that Karl has taken in his…

Ramzi spent approximately 3 weeks in ICU with severe COVID-19 infection after 10 days of illness at home. He required a long duration on a mechanical ventilator, a brief run of proning (being nursed on the front instead of the back for lung aeration) and a tracheostomy among many other…

Betty spent over a month in St Vincent’s Melbourne ICU for critical illness secondary to COVID-19. She had two runs on a mechanical ventilator and was proned (nursed on her front rather than back whilst in a medically induced coma) for long periods of time to improve her lung function.…

“From the moment we arrived in the ambulance with Dennis, I felt very glad we were here. I was really thrilled when I knew we were being transferred to St Vincent’s. So from the moment we came through the doors…I trusted that everything that could be done would be done…