This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Jacob finds himself in The Alfred Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit with no less than 20 separate injuries after his car collided with a truck. Lacerations to his liver were so bad that half of it had to be removed. The Alfred’s doctors warned his family that Jacob had less than a five-per-cent chance of surviving. While undergoing surgery on a broken leg, he required blood transfusions amounting to three times his entire blood volume. It’s touch and go but Jacob’s family is at his bed constantly, willing him to live. For 3 years Rachael has been barely able to walk because of a debilitating lung condition. Now, after 15 months on the lung transplant waiting list, Rachael’s faulty lungs are removed and she receives two new ones. Watch Rachael as she struggles to take her first breath with her new lungs and learns to trust they will keep on working. Ray sustained 15 per cent burns to his body when a gas heater exploded next to him. He’s rushed to the ICU to undergo immediate skin grafts, but doctors are also worried about swelling in his lungs and airways.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, young mum Kasey’s sinus infection leads to brain surgery. The 25-year-old undergoes more than five hours of surgery after being admitted to the ICU. But she is forced to undergo a second round on the operating table to ease the pressure on her brain. A mid-air motocross crash has landed Clint in The Alfred’s ICU with a broken shoulder, bruised lung, and a head injury that doctors fear could result in brain damage. Surgeons insert 11 screws to fix his shoulder, but the bleed on Clint’s brain is an ongoing concern. “Hero to the Homeless”, Les Twentyman, was supposed to be enjoying the benefits of his life-changing lap band surgery. But a perforated stomach has him back under the surgeon’s knife and in a critical condition.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Aaron needs a heart transplant to survive and one has finally become available. Aaron’s sisters have a similar heart condition and sister Laura says Aaron’s second chance at life is a gift for the whole family. But the life-saving surgery means Aaron might miss walking his older sister down the aisle at her wedding – something he is desperate to do. Undeterred, Laura brings the wedding to the ICU. Peter has Swine Flu and his lungs are barely functioning. His family and friends can only hope and pray as he’s placed on the ICU’s highest form of support – the ECMO machine which acts as his heart and lungs. Clint’s mid-air collision with another motocross racer has landed him in the ICU with shoulder and head injuries. Thanks to the work of the ICU team, Clint is well enough to move to the ward, but his shoulder and head injuries are still causing him grief.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Janet’s in The Alfred’s Intensive Care Unit after a life-giving heart transplant, but the 67-year-old’s new heart is not properly. The ICU team tries every trick in the book to keep her alive, but ultimately it will be up to the heart of a stranger to pull her through. Zach was three days away from joining the Navy, a lifelong dream, when he was admitted to The Alfred’s state-of-the-art facility after a severe car crash. The teenager has more than 20 hemorrhages on his brain and is struggling to wake up from a coma. His mother keeps a constant vigil at his bedside. Doctors tell her he has youth on his side, but will it be enough? Ben was working on a ladder when it collapsed causing him to fall three metres. He has entered the ICU from The Alfred’s Emergency Department with a collapsed lung and a ruptured spleen. If his spleen keeps bleeding he’ll need to have it removed.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, 65-year-old motorbike rider Kevin is at The Alfred after a collision with a car. Kevin’s wrists are in pieces, he has fractures in his spine, a broken pelvis, a severed artery in his abdomen, and tears to his bowel. It was his first accident in almost 50 years of riding, but Kevin tells his concerned family it will be his last: he’s decided to give up his favourite pastime. Katryce is a brave young teenager who’s come to the ICU after a lung transplant. Her new lung begins well but, like many new organ recipients, she soon suffers a setback. But despite having a shaky start, the 13-year-old’s fighting spirit and sense of humour soon has her winning hearts throughout the hospital. Mother of three, Judith, has had a brain aneurysm. The sudden hemorrhage caused her to have a car crash and now she is in the ICU on life support. It soon becomes apparent, her family will have to make a heartbreaking decision.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Tim, a 22-year-old floor tiler, has been admitted to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital ICU, after a devastating punch to the head left him with severe brain damage. He’s in a medically induced coma and a piece of his skull has been removed to relieve the pressure in his brain … even so, the swelling continues. The vein at the rear of Tim’s skull is under severe stress and doctors may have to remove a portion of his brain. Damian was flown to The Alfred’s ICU in Melbourne from Launceston, Tasmania, when he became critically ill after a bout of Swine Flu. His lungs are now barely functioning and he’s rapidly going downhill. The ECMO heart/lung machine is his only chance of survival. Samantha has had a double lung transplant after her own lungs failed as a result of a genetic condition called Cystic Fibrosis. The new lungs are vulnerable to infection and rejection, and the ICU staff fear they may fill with fluid. But Samantha is a fighter: she tells doctors all she wants it to make her lung donor proud.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Laila is admitted to the ICU with a tumor the size of a tennis ball in her throat. The tumor, which is all tangled up with her carotid artery and the nerves in her voice box, threatens to leave her unable to talk or swallow properly. After being removed, the tumour is sent to pathology to establish if the cancer has spread elsewhere in her body. Tim is still battling with a severe brain injury after being king-hit at a party. He’s making small improvements, but the neurological damage is so severe he may never make a full recovery. As the doctors work to keep Tim stable, his family are doing their best to stay positive. 45-year-old Joe was rushed to the ICU after his lungs failed following a standard haemorrhoidectomy. Previously, he’d received a double lung transplant, but now his new lungs are failing. He may not survive.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death John is admitted to the ICU with serious burns sustained during Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires. He was helping a neighbour rescue his cattle from the fires when he was caught in the flames. Ken was involved in a car crash which pushed his liver up through his diaphragm. The 22-year-old medicine student gets some first hand experience inside the trauma pod of Australia’s most state-of-the-art ICU. A massive heart attack has put Paul, 50, in the ICU. The medical staff has him on the heart-lung machine ECMO, but Paul’s heart is under so much strain it keeps going into an irregular rhythm. The team keeps having to shock it back into a healthy rhythm, but that’s only a temporary solution. They need Paul’s heart to kick back in and start working properly.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Kristy is fighting for her life after being a victim in a car crash. The 19-year-old university student has a broken foot, leg and pelvis, a punctured lung and severe head injuries. Kristy has been placed in a medically-induced coma and her condition is critical. But she has age on her side. Simon is a 32 year old epilepsy sufferer who is in The Alfred’s ICU after suffering serious seizures. His seizures are described as being like an electrical storm in his brain and his family is very concerned. Simon’s epilepsy is extremely limiting in terms of his lifestyle and employment prospects, but the amateur singer never gives up hope. Farmer Charlie has had an undiagnosed lung condition for 20 years and had already planned his funeral when he learned he was to become the recipient of a double lung transplant. The 56-year-old, non-smoker gets a new chance at life and his new lungs make him feel like he is 20 again.
This week on ICU: A Matter of Life or Death, Kristy continues her battle with the severe injuries she sustained in a near fatal car accident. A piece of skull was removed in an attempt to reduce the swelling in her brain, but the ICU team is now fighting for her life. The question is if she does survive, what will be her quality of life? The situation is extremely grim, but her parents refuse to give up hope. Margaret, a 55-year-old mother of two, has had a heart transplant, but her heart is too weak to support her body. ICU staff fear that even if her heart recovers, her body may still reject it. David is a TV cameraman who came into Emergency with a severe headache and ended up being admitted to the ICU with a brain aneurysm. If the aneurysm bursts, he could die. But, with the help of an innovative new process, his doctors are able to plug the aneurysm and save David’s life.