Is This The Best Holiday Surprise Ever?

More Than A Chopper Ride!


Article heading image for Is This The Best Holiday Surprise Ever?

(Image: Ambulance Victoria Facebook)

What a way to end a holiday! A woman from New South Wales hasĀ been plucked from the deck of a cruise ship, for a life saving kidney transplant!

40 year old Kathie John was on board a cruise towards Tasmania then the call came last month, saying a suitable kidney donor had been found after a 7 year wait.

There was just one big problem. She was in the middle of Bass Strait. The kidney was at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

Discussions with the ship's medical staff, captain and coast guard led to the ship heading back towards the mainland and an air ambulance from Victoria was called out to meet the boat. She was winched onto the chopper hovering above, before being flown to Bairnsdale in Victoria. From there she was taken by plane to Sydney.

Kathie is now recovering well after the operation, bus says the ordeal left her gobsmacked, "I felt like I was on a TV episode of a special operation. It was exciting to know that I was getting a kidney and to see all the work behind it to make this happen for me."

It's hoped the story will help raise awareness of the importance of organ donation.

James Lake/AAP.

6 February 2017




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