I would like to introduce you and your fellow parishioners to our son, Tom. Tom has just turned 21 years old and lives with us in our family’s home in the mountains west of Grafton, NSW. He has worked with our local council since starting a traineeship with them during Year 11 and has recently gained a permanent position with their Biosecurity Team. Tom is our local Rural Fire Service Captain, having stepped into the role and encouraged other community members to volunteer with him, after the Black Summer Fires of 2019 destroyed 103 homes, causing many locals to leave. Tom enjoys bushwalking, camping, fishing, motorbikes, snow-skiing, and spending time with his friends. He is the sort of person who will stop to help a stranger change a tyre, to drive home and grab a jerry can of fuel for a tourist who misjudged the distance, to take an injured wallaby to the vet on his way to work, and to drop off breakfast for a man living in his car in the bush. He is friendly, outgoing, hardworking, well-loved, and respected throughout our community. We are very proud of the young man he has become.
On Saturday 21st December Tom was involved in a serious car accident just three kilometres from home. He was driving our 1984 Toyota HiAce campervan, so had little protection when hit head on by a Landcruiser. With no phone reception in the area, we don’t know how long it took before emergency services arrived while he was trapped, conscious and bleeding profusely from catastrophic leg injuries, with a collapsed lung and internal injuries. We have been told he was trapped for at least an hour after they arrived, and that if a suitably qualified first responder had attended, his leg would have been amputated at the scene. Paramedics put Tom into an induced coma and reinflated his lung while emergency crews worked to get him out of the vehicle. He was flown by Westpac Helicopter directly from the accident to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where he was stabilised in Emergency before surgeons spent nearly nine hours saving his leg, and saving his life. On Sunday morning we met with orthopaedic, plastic, and trauma surgeons, who told us Tom had a brain bleed, broken arm, torn kidney and spleen, multiple abrasions to his whole body from broken glass and metal and lost 40 to 50 percent of his right leg in multiple shattering fractures and flesh wounds. In addition to this, there was a medical incident while stabilising him for surgery, and he had suffered compartment syndrome in his left arm as a result, requiring fasciotomies to relive the pressure on nerves and tissue. Tom was still in an induced coma, but he had survived, and they all remarked on what a fighter he is to give us hope.
Our Chaplain with the Rural Fire Service suggested we ask a hospital social worker for advice about accommodation near the hospital, and she put us in contact with The Mooring. My husband Jon was introduced to Carol and Graham, and three days after arriving at the hospital, we were able to take a shower, wash our clothes, eat a home cooked meal, and sleep in a proper bed. In the weeks since, Tom has been extubated, undergone eight different surgeries, experienced an emergency during surgery resulting in another induced coma, feeding and pain complications, bedside dietician, physio and OT appointments, regular redressing of his injuries and skin grafts that take several staff members hours to complete, as well as daily visits by various surgeons to discuss their plans for further operations, and assess Tom’s progress. As I write on Australia Day, Tom is undergoing his ninth surgery, and when recovered, this will hopefully be followed by rehabilitation closer to home.
The generosity of your parishioners, volunteers, and sponsors of The Mooring has allowed us to be with Tom throughout all these procedures, to support him and each other through this dreadful time. There have been days when Tom made good progress, then had a setback an hour later, one issue solved, and another problem discovered. It has been an exhausting rollercoaster of emotions, and we appreciate the opportunity to stay so close to the hospital without commuting from our home, 300km away. To be able to spend the days with our son, to speak personally with the surgeons and allied health professionals, and to rest in your supported apartment at The Smith Collective is truly a blessing, and we are grateful to you all.
Thank you.
Kim, Jon, Ben, & Tom
