Queensland couple will never forget Horsham care
Grampians Health’s Horsham campus has once again been recognised among Australia’s top hospitals for stroke care, and Queensland couple Allan and Lareen Bovill are not one bit surprised.
Until a few weeks ago, the Bovills had never heard of Horsham but now they are singing the praises of the emergency and stroke care team at Wimmera Base Hospital for giving Allan a second chance at life.
Upon reaching retirement age last year, the Bovills bought a caravan and said goodbye to their Redcliffe home in July to tour Australia. The couple had visited family in Adelaide and were on their way to Wangaratta to see more family and planned their route to take in Sea Lake and Boort.
While travelling through the Wimmera, Lareen suggested a stopover in Beulah so she could get pictures in the streets where one of her favourite movies, ‘The Dry’ was filmed.
On May 23, they set up camp at the caravan park where they met another travelling couple and after the Bovills returned from their film set snapping they decided to have a ‘happy hour’ with their new friends. Allan was setting up the caravan when he had a dizzy spell.
“I just stood up and everything went haywire and I thought I’d better lie down because I was feeling really dizzy,” Allan said.
Lareen said Allan was having a seizure when he called out to her, so she called out to their neighbours.
“We got him on the ground and they kept him warm while I called the ambulance,” Lareen said. “Allan was holding the right side of his head in pain and he asked me why he couldn’t move his left arm and I told him I thought he was having a stroke.
“There were no ambulances available at Warracknabeal at the time so they had to come from Horsham and it took a stressful hour or so to arrive but the other couple were very good and kept me calm while I kept Allan calm.”
Lareen said two young paramedics arrived first and ran tests on Allan, then the ambulance came and after further tests were done, the senior officer said he believed Allan’s seizure was a stroke.
“He calculated the time since the stroke and told us they needed to get Allan to Wimmera Base Hospital urgently because he needed to take a clot dissolving medication within four hours of his episode,” she said.
Once this period has passed, the medication can no longer be administered and Horsham is the only hospital in the region that has a stroke team qualified to administer this medication to a stroke patient.
“I grabbed a couple of things from the caravan and jumped in the ambulance with Allan and we took off.
“Once they got Allan to the hospital, he was assessed by a doctor straight away, sent for a CT scan and while they were doing that, they got a neurologist on a Telehealth call who did some cognitive tests on Allan.
“He was great with his right hand but as the neurologist said, he was very clumsy with his left hand.
“Once they were able to ascertain it was a stroke, they were able to inject the clot dissolving medication into Allan and that was about 7pm but it was important they did it within that time frame.”
Lareen said that Allan was then admitted to ICU which left her with a different dilemma.
“I was filling out the forms for Allan’s admission and the lady helping me asked if I had anyone who could collect me to take me home. I said I didn’t know a soul from here and I was stranded because the caravan was still at Beulah.
“She told me I could get overnight accommodation at Rotary House so the security guard walked me around to the accommodation and then it was just a waiting game all night to see how Allan would be in the morning,” she said.
Allan said he was made a little more comfortable knowing that Lareen had secure lodgings for the night.
“You just don’t expect to have all that available to you in a regional area as well as all the equipment for treating strokes. It was just great,” he said.
Lareen agreed. “We were in total shock because one minute we are living the dream and about to enjoy happy hour and the next thing we are in an ambulance in a race to save Allan’s life.
“He’s very fit for a 66-year-old man. He’s 6’ 3” and weighs 85kg and was laboring in a factory until he retired.”
Allan said he felt reassured the moment he met nurse Deidre Rennick.
“I looked at her badge and underneath her name it said ‘stroke coordinator’ and I thought, wow she’s here specifically to help me and it just felt good to know that she was there,” he said.
“She explained things to both of us and it was so good.”
Lareen said Deidre told her that Allan was going to have a ‘full dance card in the morning’.
“Speech therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, we had the works,” she said.
“When I walked into ICU the next morning there were about four clinicians and a doctor there all ascertaining the extent of his stroke, checking his speech, his swallowing and coordination to see how they would begin his treatment.
“So that was very comforting as well to know all those services were available and they were all coordinated to be there at the same time to work together for the best diagnosis and to start the right treatment.
“And it’s so important to get that rehabilitation right because the brain is starting to rewire itself.”
Allan said the emphasis wasn’t so much on how or why he got the stroke but on ’this is where we go from here’.
“So, they were always looking forward which was good.”
Allan spent two nights in ICU and four nights in the Oxley acute ward before being transferred to Wyuna rehabilitation ward. In the meantime, Lareen had another problem. The car and caravan were still at Beulah.
Lareen said Deidre asked her how she planned to get them and she replied ‘good question’.
“Deidre told me not to worry because if nothing else could be arranged, she would drive her to Beulah and tow the caravan for her because she had plenty of experience towing horse floats.
“The ICU Ward Clerk made a call to Grampians Health’s volunteers coordinator and before we knew it a lovely local gentleman called Max drove me to Beulah and brought the caravan back to Horsham.
“Max towed it back and put it on site for me at the caravan park and that was such a relief for me because it meant I had a change of clothes and a familiar home, even though we were 420 kilometres away from anyone that I knew,” she said.
Allan spent 10 days in Wyuna rehabilitation. “I had a room to myself and was able to get plenty of rest during the night while they worked on my rehab during the day,” he said.
“All the allied health team who worked at getting me back on track were just great. The physiotherapists got me walking again and the OTs have helped retrain my brain so I can use the left side of my body once more.”
After leaving hospital, the Bovills drove to Wangaratta with the help of relatives and Allan continues his rehab program there. The couple plan to return to Queensland without the caravan to complete Allan’s recovery.
“We just want to get our lives back now,” Lareen said. “For 10 months we were living the dream and then we hit a road block and now Allan is working so hard to get himself right again and be even stronger than he was before.”
The couple said they would be forever thankful for the care Allan received.
“Everyone at Horsham has just been amazing, from the ambulance team and Emergency team to the allied health clinicians, ward nurses and of course Max,” Lareen said.
“But we will particularly be forever grateful to Deidre and her stroke care team. It is so comforting to know that a regional hospital has such an important service that is so professional and so willing to go the extra mile to provide the best care.”
Top six in Australia
Grampians Health Horsham was recently awarded a ‘Top Performing’ Hospital nationally for stroke care for the fourth consecutive year by the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry.
It was one of only six hospitals in Australia to achieve a Top Performing Hospital Award, based on 2021 data. The award recognises the hospital’s performance against a number of clinical indicators, including data quality.
Detecting a stroke early is extremely important as it can reduce the risks associated with stroke including disability, cognitive impairments, and other complications. Prompt action improves the chances of successful treatment and can lessen the potential long-term effects.
Deidre Rennick, Stroke Coordinator, credits this continuity of award-winning service to a fantastic team approach. “A full multidisciplinary early assessment protocol ensures patients get the right care immediately in the acute stage. Access to a quality inpatient rehabilitation service completes the cycle of high standard care,” she said.
“We receive early notification by Ambulance Victoria which allows our Stroke response team to be ready the moment the patient arrives. The emergency staff follows a structured pathway and the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine (VST) Program allows 24/7 access to neurologist advice via telehealth. Accompanied with clot-dissolving medication and 24/7 CT scan this ensures a rapid response. Ward staff also utilise a standardised pathway to guide the care of the patient,” said Deidre.
Ben Kelly, Chief Operations Officer said: “Grampians Health is extremely proud of Deidre and the incredible team in Horsham for this award. To receive the award for the fourth year highlights the quality of care that Deidre and the team provides. Stroke is such a serious condition, needs a timely response, and with Horsham following the standardised pathway, this is something that we do really well under Deidre’s leadership.”
Symptoms of a stroke may include one side of the face dropping or feeling numb, arm weakness, or speech difficulty, where a person’s speech may become slurred or hard to understand. Not all stroke symptoms may be present, therefore if you suspect someone is experiencing a stroke, do not wait, act quickly and call 000.
