Family meets saviours
HANNAH Tolcher was just hours old when doctors discovered she had a heart condition that needed urgent attention.
Within 24 hours, Hannah was on board a Lifeflight to Brisbane with dad Darren Tolcher for lifesaving surgery.
Yesterday, the Lifeflight medical staff and crew had the chance to meet Hannah, and another one of their neonatal patients, for the first time since their flights.
Hannah and her parents, along with baby Tautu Tuainekore and his mum Lisa Marii Tuainekore, met the pilot who flew them to Brisbane and Queensland Health staff to mark the start of Neonatal November.
Hannah from Townsville and Tautu from Cairns were two of the more than 40 neonatal airlifts the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Air Ambulance jet crews completed this year.
Hannah’s dad credits the aeromedical team with helping to save his daughter’s life.
“It was very full-on and stressful,” Mr Tolcher said. “But it was good to have the support around and they’re all very professional.”
Townsville University Hospital neonatal nurse practitioner Megan Murphy was part of Hannah’s birth and was with her on the flight to Brisbane.
She said it was heartwarming to be back with the family.
“(Hannah) was born with a life-threatening congenital cardiac condition called coarctation of the aorta and required urgent specialist treatment in
Murphy said.
Medical staff at the hospital picked up Hannah’s condition early so they were able to get her to Brisbane quickly.
“It can be quite nerveracking, Brisbane is quite far away, but the jet makes it possible to get there a lot quicker,” Ms Murphy said.
“Potentially she could be
Brisbane,” Ms
come very unwell on plane, but we’re lucky she was stable.
“I’d like to say it’s the best job in the world, but it doesn’t really feel like a job because it’s an absolute pleasure to be with these families.”
Pilot Anthony Mckenna, who got emotional talking about his job to take the “precious cargo” to get the
the that
help they need, said it was pretty special to get a chance to meet them and their parents again.
Tautu was a few days old when he flew to Brisbane with dad Brad.
He needed to have patent ductus arteriosus (cardiac) surgery, and later underwent another two surgeries in Townsville.