Doctors at Mater Private Hospital Townsville have saved the life of a Papua New Guinean father of three who needed to be flown to Australia for emergency heart surgery.
Forty-year-old Sidney Waingut was eating at a restaurant in Port Moresby in November when he began to feel ill.
“It triggered acid reflux and I couldn’t sleep that night, so I went to the hospital and the doctors did some tests that showed there was damage to my heart,” Mr Waingut said.
“They thought I would have a heart attack.
“I wasn’t allowed to walk around. They did an echo scan and they could see there was a bulge in my aorta and one of my heart valves was leaking.”
Mr Waingut was diagnosed with a Type A aortic dissection, a life-threatening tear in the inner wall of the body’s largest artery, responsible for carrying oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
His post-meal discomfort escalated into a race against time to save his life.
“There were no specialists in Papua New Guinea that could do the surgery,” Mr Waingut said.
“My only option was to get treatment overseas.”
After having his condition closely monitored, Mr Waingut was flown from Port Moresby to Mater Private Hospital Townsville for emergency surgery.
In less than two hours he was on the tarmac at Townsville Airport, his older brother Henry making the journey with him.
“I was told I’d be prepped for surgery in the next hour… the next thing I knew I was being wheeled in and the anaesthetist put me to sleep,” Mr Waingut said.
About an hour after landing in Australia, Mr Waingut was in the operating theatre, in the care of Mater Private Hospital Townsville cardiothoracic surgeon, Associate Professor Sumit Yadav.
“Aortic dissection is fatal for half of all patients if they do not get surgery within 24 hours of diagnosis,” A/Prof Yadav said.
“Without surgery there is an almost 100 per cent chance he would have died.
“Mater Private Hospital Townsville and my surgical team arranged for him to come here for surgery very quickly… he arrived at 4.30pm, was in theatre by 5.30pm and it lasted about eight hours.”
Two weeks post-operation, Mr Waingut is recovering well and is looking forward to returning home and reuniting with his wife Kalyna and his three children, 13-year-old Sidney Jr, ten-year-old Eliana, and six-year-old Alannah.
For now, he’s recovering in Townsville, with his two older brothers Henry, 45, and Cyjo, 43, by his side.
The Waingut brothers and Dr Yadav have made a promise to each other – when the soon-to-be established Papua New Guinea NRL team plays its first game against the North Queensland Cowboys at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium, they’ll be there together.
“My family was really happy to hear the surgery went well,” Mr Waingut said.
“I’d like to thank Dr Yadav and the team at Mater Private Hospital Townsville for taking such great care of me.
“Without the grace of God I wouldn’t have made it this far.
“My family and friends have been praying and God has performed a miracle through this surgery.
“God has been with me all throughout this situation and he continues to watch over me through my recovery journey.”
Associate Professor Yadav said Mr Waingut should make a full recovery and lead a normal life back home.
“We replaced his leaky valve and replaced his split aorta,” A/Prof Yadav said.
“His recovery has been excellent… his latest echocardiogram shows his valves are functioning well and I’ve given him the all-clear to fly back to Papua New Guinea.”
General Manager Mater Private Hospital Townsville Stephanie Barwick said Mater is proud to be a leading source of life-saving emergency care for North Queensland and the wider Pacific region.
“We are committed to the highest standard of patient care, and for Mater Private Hospital Townsville to be there for someone who travelled over a thousand kilometres for life-saving surgery speaks to the quality of our cardiothoracic surgery team,” Ms Barwick said.
Sidney Waingut meeting A/Prof Sumit Yadav for a post-operation check-up at Mater Private Hospital Townsville.
