Earlier this year, Hector Saenz became the second person in Australia to receive a lung transplant following COVID-19 – after six months in The Alfred ICU, more than 4000 hours of critical care from 1500 medical professionals, and the longest recorded stint on ECMO.
Prior to contracting COVID-19 in December last year, Hector was fit and healthy. But for reasons that remain unknown – and are being studied by The Alfred ICU team – the 62-year-old became so ill with the virus that just one day after testing positive, he had collapsed at home and was struggling to breath.
‘I could feel myself going,’ Hector recalls.
His wife Ana, who also had COVID-19, saw his lips were purple and called an ambulance. Hector was referred to The Alfred through VECMOS (Victorian Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Service). After the initial ambulance trip, Hector has no recollection of events until February this year. ‘Hector was far sicker than any of the patients we were seeing with the disease at the time,’ said Intensivist Dr Brooke Riley.
In supporting Hector, we knew that his condition could take time to recover from, and the changes to his lungs could take time to recover. But we tried weaning him off ECMO several times, and his lungs just weren’t able to manage that. They just weren’t recovering. The only option was a transplant.
It is testament to the whole team who looked after him – and Hector’s positive attitude - that Hector is doing so well today. The medical staff, nursing staff, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, dietitians, psychologists, ward support staff, social workers, pharmacists, radiologists and pathologists all worked together to get Hector well. Hector was also able to build relationships with those people, it was really special to see.
When Hector visited the ICU to say goodbye before he left the hospital, the whole team was waiting for him.
To see Hector walk back in after all the time he spent with us, we were just so proud. So proud of all the work we had put in, and proud of him, said Dr Riley. It was really special.
