17 July 2024

It’s not often that healthcare professionals get to reconnect with their patients.

In 2007, Steve, a biomedical science and physiotherapy student, presented to our infectious diseases ward with septicaemia (blood poisoning caused by bacteria entering the bloodstream) and a characteristic meningococcal rash. 

After suffering a heart attack in the ambulance and slipping in and out of consciousness, Steve was placed under the care of Infectious Diseases Consultant Dr Pat Charles. A spinal tap culture confirmed that Steve had a Y-strain of meningococcus. 

Dr Pat had to make the dreaded phone call to Steve's mother, informing her that Steve had been put into an induced coma, and that his recovery depended on his body's response to the medication.

"Calling Steve's mother to tell her that he was so unwell was awful. She understood the seriousness of the situation and that we couldn't be sure at that time whether he would make it or not.

Fortunately, with the help of our amazing intensive care staff, he was able to improve, and eventually was well enough to get out of hospital, but at that stage, was still a shadow of the fit and strong young man he'd been prior to this."

17 years later, Dr Pat, now an Infectious Diseases and General Medicine Physician at Austin Health, attended the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) 2024 congress in Barcelona. The conference is renowned for bringing together many of the world’s leading minds from academia and all facets of the pharmaceutical industry.

While at the congress, Pat received a surprising message from one of his peers, Dr Jonathan Darby, letting him know that he’d serendipitously met Steve at ESCMID. Dr Jon made the connection when Steve had asked him if there were any Infectious Diseases experts from Melbourne, and specifically Austin Hospital, as he was eager to reconnect with the consultant who saved his life in 2007.

By deduction, Dr John quickly figured out that Steve’s treating consultant was Dr Pat Charles, and confirmed that he was in fact in attendance at the conference.

After Steve made a full recovery from his meningococcal ordeal, he went on to complete a Masters in Science and Technology commercialisation and has been working in London as a project manager in the pharmaceutical industry for the past nine years.

“This collision course between patient and physician 17 years later at an infectious diseases congress seemed fitting but also bizarre,” says Pat.

“There was an outpouring of emotion from both Steve and I. It was a very rewarding career moment for me as I witnessed the deepest gratitude from Steve.”

This unexpected reunion between Dr Pat and Steve serves as a powerful reminder of the enduring impact healthcare professionals can have on their patients' lives, even many years later.