Seventy-year-old Arthur Kelly has no memory of being in a serious three-car accident on the Sunshine Motorway on 15 March, of sustaining catastrophic injuries or of dying while trapped in his vehicle, but on Friday he and his wife Aileen thanked the medics who saved both of them.
The couple were in a 100km/hr zone driving to the beach for their regular morning walk just before 7am. Their dash cam revealed another car had crossed into their lane knocking them sideways into the path of an oncoming vehicle that impacted on the driver’s side.
Aileen thinks she was looking down at the time and didn’t see the accident but remembers a “big noise“.
“I saw Arthur sit up then he just slowly started sinking down. I didn’t realise at the time, he was actually passing away,“ she said.
“There was a person I didn’t know trying to yank open the door to get to him. The gentleman was saying ’stay with us’. I was saying ’it’s OK, stay awake’.“
Last Friday at Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) the couple was reunited with paramedics who resuscitated Arthur at the scene of the accident and the medical team that treated him on his arrival to hospital.
Critical care paramedic Erin McDonald said Arthur was “as unwell as you can get“ when the ambulance arrived at the accident.
“His injuries were numerous, all of them life threatening,“ she said.
“It’s a miracle Arthur is alive today.
“When we first approached he had an altered level of consciousness, difficulty breathing … then, cardiac arrest. We removed him from the vehicle and resuscitated him,“ she said.
“It was incredibly challenging. We were concerned he would not make it to the hospital.“
SCUH trauma nurse Melanie Procter had five minutes’ warning from paramedics of Arthur’s arrival – “major car crash – trauma – patient extremely unstable“.
We have a trauma response, a whole of hospital response that includes ICU, anaesthetic, surgery and orthopaedic teams, she said.
Medical director of trauma Dr Andrew Hobbins King said Arthur arrived with “catastrophic injuries“, conscious, with a low blood pressure and had difficulty breathing.
Paramedics had performed a chest decompression, a life-saving procedure to insert a needle into his chest to release air pressure, prior to his arrival.
The medical team put Arthur to sleep, intubated him and took a chest X-ray that revealed the car accident has caused catastrophic injuries to his aorta, the main artery in the body, Dr Hobbin King said.
With a vascular surgeon in attendance they transferred Arthur immediately to the operating theatre for surgery to repair his aorta, then moved him to ICU.
“This was a wonderful example of when everything works so perfectly together,“ Dr Hobbins King said. “It was extremely streamlined and very calm.“
Arthur had fractures to his ribs, collarbone, spine and pelvis as well as injuries to his bowels and kidneys requiring further surgeries, medical treatment, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
“The change from coming in is an absolute miracle,“ Dr Hobbins King said.
During his treatment Arthur had been told they’d had other patients with similar injuries, he was the first one alive today.
“I feel really well. I’m so grateful. I only found out today I did pass away. We have 10 grandchildren. I’m grateful for every single day,“ he said.
“I realised how blessed we are. I’m amazed myself how quickly I’ve recovered.“
Arthur spent six weeks in SCUH and a further six weeks in Nambour hospital. The most difficult part for him was three months lying flat on his back to recover from spinal fractures.
“I’ve always been very active. I used to run marathons and ultramarathons and still regularly ran 10km,“ he said.
“I was worried that I’d never walk again.“
After three months, staff in Nambour hospital told him they were going to get him up to walk.
“It was just 10 steps. At the end of that there were about a dozen people, they all clapped,“ he said.
“I got so choked up. It was such an encouragement.
“We’re teachers. We know the value of encouraging people who have doubts about their ability,“ he said of he and Aileen who shared a hospital during their recovery.
“They dubbed it the honeymoon suite,“ she joked.
Aileen sustained fractured ribs, a punctured lung treated with a chest drain and a crushed leg requiring surgery.
“We feel joy, happiness and thankfulness for the people who surrounded us from the time we arrived,“ Arthur said.
As teachers, Arthur and Aileen wanted their students to do well. Arthur said he realised the hospital staff wanted the same for their patients.
“People were just totally devoted to their work. They’d do whatever they could to help. We’re so grateful. It’s so important to say thank you. We appreciate what they do every single day.“
Arthur was deputy headmaster at Rockhampton Grammar School, a school he taught at for 27 years.
By a quirk of fate, paramedic Erin McDonald was a former student at the school.
Erin didn’t recognise the former teacher at the time of the accident, saying in her work when people are so sick you often don’t recognise them, you just focus on what needs to be done.
She realised who he was after the fact and while he hadn’t taught her, she knew his reputation as a wonderful teacher.
“When you see Arthur today, it’s a testament to him as a person,“ she said.
“Often you don’t close the loop on a job. To see him with his family and going home for Christmas that’s the best part of the job. Thanking us is when we hear they are doing well.“
In a message to other drivers Erin said a lot of accidents they attended were avoidable. She urged drivers to drive safely, to avoid accidents.
“Everyone has a family,“ she said.
