Measles mission
A family of doctors rally to Samoa’s aid
When Sarah Leilua volunteered to return to her native Samoa to help in the fight against the measles outbreak, she never expected to be referring patients to her brothers and sister, who were volunteering in unison.
The Porirua doctor’s impressive family of 11 boasts five doctor siblings, and two parents who once worked in medicine.
While visiting her parents in Samoa in December, Leilua discovered two of her siblings had also volunteered to be part of an Australasian contingent from Samoan Doctors Worldwide who will help relieve local doctors until March.
A third would be working there as part of her medical studies.
‘‘It really feels like coming home,’’ said Leilua of returning to Samoa. She came to New Zealand as a baby.
‘‘We’ve always identified as Samoan but we haven’t had an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture here. So having this time here, living with our family and trying to lend a hand where we can, has been really wonderful for all of us.’’
Samoa declared a state of emergency in mid-November.
The measles epidemic killed 83 people, and Samoa all but shut down for mass immunisation.
Leilua’s brothers Sebastian Karalus (an anaesthetist based in Cairns) and Mosese Karalus (a general surgical registrar in Auckland) were also part of the volunteer team.
Sister Miriam Karalus, who is in her final year of medical school in Auckland, is doing an eightweek elective in the kidney unit at Samoa’s main hospital, Tupua Tamasese Meaole.
Sibling Luke Karalus is an orthopaedic registrar whose work commitments kept him in New Zealand.
He was working in Whakata¯ ne when Whakaari/White Island exploded. They all grew up talking healthcare. Father Noel was a respiratory physician and mother Elisapeta (Peta), who also holds a high chief title, Leaupepe, from the village of Fasito’outa, was a nurse.
Among the other siblings there’s a commercial diver, vet, podiatrist and a lawyer.
Leilua wanted to be a doctor because helping people is ‘‘inbuilt into what you’re doing every day’’.
The Karalus siblings were based at Samoa’s main hospital and Leilua’s domain was an acute primary care clinic.
Many local doctors had to postpone clinics or put services on hold; paediatrics and ICU had been the main focus, so volunteers tried to relieve local doctors in other specialties.
‘‘The locals have been working so hard for so long,’’ Leilua said.
‘‘Us coming to do a couple of weeks doesn’t seem very much compared to what they’ve been dealing with.
‘‘They work very hard and they never complain.’’
Back in New Zealand, sister Rachel Karalus helped get donations to Samoa through Hamilton-based K’aute Pasifika, an organisation their mother established.
A little over $33,000 in donations from Waikato organisations was passed on to a sister trust, Karalus, the organisation’s chief executive, said.
The Karalus siblings’ shared profession provides no end of fascination for other people.
‘‘It’s mostly, ‘wow, your parents must be proud, and how many [siblings] are there’?’’ Leilua said.
‘‘I wouldn’t say they are proud – they’d say that they’re blessed.’’