Young dad's road to recovery after 'catastrophic' asthma attack
A young father is on a challenging and lengthy road to recovery after suffering neurological damage as a result of a “catastrophic” asthma attack.
Gareth Aucock had been celebrating his birthday on August 17 with his partner Juliet but a few hours later the evening took an unexpected and terrifying turn, according to a fundraising page set up by the father-of-one’s colleagues.
“Juliet was woken by Gareth gasping for air, Gareth was having a catastrophic asthma attack and had now passed out in his battle for life,” a Gofundme page for the young father reads.
Juliet called triple zero and performed CPR on Gareth for more than 20 minutes, before an ambulance arrived and paramedics worked to save his life.
“For 20 minutes Gareth was without his vital signs, with no heartbeat, and hope fading all of their efforts seemed in vain,” the Gofundme page stated.
When Gareth arrived at the Gold Coast University Hospital, he was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit.
“At this stage the prognosis was not good and the doctors did not give Gareth much hope on surviving the next 48 hours.”
But Gareth, who has a two-year-old daughter, has been described as a “fighter” and defied the odds.
“48 hours turned to 72, 72 to 96 and 96 into 7 days. Gareth slept in an induced coma for three and a half weeks while the doctors performed various tests on Gareth,” the fundraising page says.
He was brought out of his coma, and has since been transferred to the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
“Neurological damage caused by his illness would mean that Gareth would need 2+ years of rehabilitation and 24 hour care while on his road to recovery,” the Gofundme page states.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that young father is currently learning to walk again.
Yahoo7 has attempted to reach out to the organiser of the fundraising page for more information.
