Meetings before nine-hour operation
Palmerston North city councillor Adrian Broad is recovering in Wellington Hospital after emergency surgery on Monday night.
Broad suffered an aortic dissection, a life-threatening tear in a major artery from the heart, which needed a complex ninehour operation to repair.
The chairman of the council’s economic development committee had spent most of Monday in council meetings, but later in the afternoon decided he did not feel so well.
He contacted a family member to take him to Palmerston North Hospital, from where he was flown to Wellington and taken straight to the hospital’s operating theatre.
The surgery was successful and he has since been moved out of intensive care. He is recovering well, but is likely to remain in hospital for several more days.
‘‘I’m doing very well, but It could have been different if I hadn’t acted so quickly,’’ he said.
The Midcentral District Health Board member said the care he had received had been incredible, from the emergency department, to the ambulance, Life Flight and transfer to Wellington Hospital, and the ‘‘top surgeons in the country’’.
‘‘It was amazing, as a board member, to witness that firsthand and to see the collaboration between health boards.’’
Broad, 67, had already decided he would not be seeking reelection to the council at October’s elections. His intention to stand again for the district health board now seems unlikely.
Mayor Grant Smith planned to visit Broad to pass on council and community wishes for his recovery.