Peter was enjoying his summer holiday in Sorrento with his wife and three children when disaster struck – but what appeared to be a disaster saved his life.
His kids were happily playing at the beach when his daughter went into the water to retrieve a ball, and quickly found herself in trouble.
“My son ran over and told me my daughter had gone into the deep water. I tried to see where she was, I could not see her at first,” recalls Peter.
“I saw her and then I swam very hard and quickly to reach her and help her get back to the beach.”
Once they got to the shore, Peter’s daughter was ok, but Peter himself was starting to struggle.
“I got very short of breath and then I just kept coughing,” says Peter.
“My kids were watching all of this and crying. I started to cough up blood and I just couldn’t get my breath back. That’s when I told my wife to please call an Ambulance.”
The Ambulance arrived quickly and came onto the beach to help Peter, before taking him to Frankston Hospital.
“When I arrived everyone was waiting for me,” adds Peter.
“I was taken to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where they were closely monitoring me to try to work out what was wrong.”
When our team met Peter that day, they initially thought he had an arrhythmia caused from the exertion of swimming so fast to save his daughter.
Peter spent time in ICU while they stabilised him and brought his breathing back under control.
In the Cath Lab, Dr Robert Lew and the team discovered why Peter had been so unwell on the beach – he needed coronary artery bypass graft surgery to relieve multiple blockages in his heart.
At 47-years-old, Peter never expected to be told he was critically unwell with a serious heart condition.
“I had no symptoms – I had never felt anything before, but the doctors told me you could have died at any time if this wasn’t picked up and I didn’t have the operation,” says Peter.
“Saving my daughter saved my life.”
Peter’s heroic actions as a father led to our team being able to save his life that day.
Peter is feeling much better now and is looking forward to getting back to work.
He is counting himself very lucky that his cardiac event happened when he was able to get help and critical medical care.
“My Dad died of a heart condition when he was 56 – he didn’t get to have any surgery,” recalls Peter.
“I had my 47th birthday at Frankston Hospital – every day I say thank you to God for giving me another chance to stay longer with my family, my kids.”
To be able to provide people across Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula with the very best cardiac care, when they need it, we need your support in raising $90,000 to purchase critical new equipment for our Heart Service.
Cath Labs are crucial for diagnosing and treating various heart conditions, including blocked arteries, irregular heartbeats, and other heart problems.
We need a range of highly specialised equipment to be able to provide this important, life-saving service for our community. Please consider donating to our 2025 Tax Appeal. Together we can reach our goal of $90,000.
