It was a seemingly normal Friday night for Bon Beach residents Matt and Kristy – until their 13-year-old daughter Mia returned from netball training in tears.
“It was a one in a million injury,” says Matt, describing how Mia collided with another player at full-speed during a drill, resulting in a knock to the side of her temple.
While Kristy called her sister, a paramedic, to seek some advice, Mia’s discomfort went from bad to worse, including violent vomiting.
“We were very alarmed,” says Matt.
Mia and her Mum travelled by Ambulance to Peninsula University Hospital’s Emergency Department. By the time they were in the waiting area, Mia was almost unresponsive, slumped in the chair.
Emergency physician Dr Darsim Haji noticed Mia from across the waiting area, and immediately intervened, taking her for a scan.
“His clinical judgement, getting her in for that scan so quickly, really did save her life,” Matt says.
The scan showed that Mia had an intracranial hematoma, clotted blood with the skull caused by trauma. She needed emergency surgery.
It was a time that Matt describes as harrowing, but says they are incredibly grateful for the care Mia received.
After a successful emergency craniotomy, Mia was back at school within weeks and has made a full recovery. Although she didn’t return to netball that season, she is back on the courts in 2026.
Despite her injury, the gifted netballer has been selected for the Southern Saints (VNL) Academy, a pathway to professional netball.
“Thankfully a great outcome,” Matt says. “Health is everything in life.”
This Tax time, we’re raising money for our paediatric Emergency Department, to help continue to save lives like Mia’s.