A mayor’s split-second decision to answer the phone instead of heading into the surf may have saved Shellharbour councilor Kerry Marsh’s life.
Mr Marsh, the city’s deputy mayor, is recovering in the intensive care unit of Sydney’s Prince of Wales Hospital after collapsing at home last Friday morning, suffering a stroke caused by two ruptured aneurysms that caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding between the brain and the tissue that covers it).
The call came as Shellharbour Mayor Chris Homer was on holiday on the south coast and just about to enter the waters of North Manyana.
“I was in holiday mode, sunscreen on, rash vest on and ready to board,” Cr Homer said.
“I was just closing the back hatch of the car when I heard Deputy Marsh honking.”
”I thought, “I’ll go surfing first and then call her back,” but then I thought, “No, let’s pick up the phone and talk.””
Cr Homer said the pair had been talking for about five minutes when Ms Marsh started losing her voice during the call.
“I know Kelly suffers from bad migraines, so I thought it might be something she would normally shake off,” he said.
“But she became unresponsive. I kept saying, ‘Kelly, Kelly, are you there?’
“She made a few strange noises and said she saw something like a starry sky, but she quickly disappeared from the conversation.”
Realizing something was seriously wrong, Cr Homer hung up and called Mr Marsh’s 23-year-old son Nathan.
“I said, ‘Listen, Nathan, I was calling my mom and she wasn’t responding. Could you please go check on her?’
Nathan found his mother passed out on the bathroom floor.
“He found Kelly foaming at the mouth and unresponsive,” Cr Homer said.
”It became clear then that this was an emergency situation.”
The mayor called Triple Zero (000) and Nathan and his neighbors began assisting at the scene.
Cr Marsh was taken to Wollongong Hospital before being rushed to Sydney where he subsequently underwent two surgeries.
Kelly Marsh (right), pictured with the Mayor, is recovering in hospital after the emergency. (Provided by: Shellharbour City Council )
“I’m still here.”
Speaking from intensive care, Cr Marsh said she had little recollection of the incident itself.
“I’m okay, I’m still here so I’m definitely okay,” she said.
“I remember my vision going really weird. I have bad migraines, but this time was different.”
Marsh later learned that he had suffered a seizure and collapsed.
“I was passed out on the floor, foaming at the mouth…my eyes were rolling in my head and I was totally fired up.”
she said.
Cr Homer said the result was due to incredible timing, trust and teamwork.
“It actually took about 10 seconds for me to choose to pick up the phone instead of closing the hatch and going surfing,” he said.
“CR Marsh and I are really good friends.
“She’s the best deputy mayor for the mayor. When you give Kelly her role, you can really switch off and trust that everything will be taken care of.”
Cr Marsh said she was overwhelmed by the support she received.
“I just feel blessed. I feel really lucky,” she said.
Cr Homer said the moment still weighed heavily days later.
“This really could have been the end of it, but I’m really grateful that everything worked out.”
he said.
timing is important
Jorn van der Veken, a researcher and consultant neurosurgeon at Flinders Medical Center and the Royal Adelaide Hospital, said a brain aneurysm is an “abnormal external pouch or bulge in one of the arteries of the brain”, which is caused by weakening of part of the artery.
Jorn Van Der Veken says prompt treatment is important if a brain aneurysm ruptures. (Provided by: Brain Foundation)
Dr. Van Der Veken said there are different risk factors for the development and rupture of an aneurysm.
“There are lifestyle factors such as smoking and low blood pressure, which are the most important modifiable risk factors,” he said.
The doctor said non-modifiable risks include gender and genetics.
“Being a woman is more likely to develop an aneurysm than a man… [and] “There’s definitely a genetic component to it,” he said.
Dr. Van Der Veken said aneurysms usually do not cause symptoms unless they rupture.
“If it ruptures, you get a really bad headache,” he says.
”Patients often describe this headache as feeling like being hit in the head with a hammer and describe it as a thunderclap.”
He said timing was “very, very important in the management of these conditions” and immediate emergency and neurosurgical treatment was essential to stabilize the patient’s condition and prevent rebleeding.
He said aneurysms occur in about 2 to 5 per cent of the population, but rupture is rare, affecting about six in every 100,000 Australians each year, with a higher proportion of women affected.