New Zealand Listener – August 03, 2019

20 LISTENER AUGUST 3 2019

T

here’s no telling when a medical

affliction will strike. Paul Sullivan

initially thought little of his staph

infection compared with the

illnesses and infections he and

partner Fliss Winstone saw while in India

in 2014 and 2015. And Winstone herself

almost succumbed to altitude sickness.

After working in Hyderabad, Sullivan

went travelling with Winstone in the

Himalayas for three months. Near the

end of an eight-day hike to the base

of the world’s third highest mountain,

Kangchenjunga in Sikkim, Sullivan awoke

in their tent to hear Winstone gurgling.

He had done a first-aid course for his

job, but “couldn’t find a pulse – maybe

because of the inflammation in her face

and neck – or sign of breathing. With a

mixture of CPR and cold water, I managed

to revive her to the point where she could

communicate. Winstone says images of

her family flashed before her eyes.

“Then began a painstaking 17-hour

effort to carry her down from the Goecha

La pass at 5000m to Yuksom at 1800m

• a mammoth effort by the Sherpas.
  During the descent, Fliss was vomiting
  and had no vision, and although she was

A life-changing near-

death experience

On a hike in the Himalayas, Paul Sullivan

woke to find his partner without a pulse.

ANTIBIOTICRESISTANT BUGS

conscious, it didn’t seem as if she was

on this planet. At that stage, I had no

idea that it was altitude sickness, as she

didn’t have the usual symptoms. So,

I thought there would be long-term

consequences.

“We were in a no-fly zone as a result

of conflict on the Indian border, so

a helicopter was not an option. On

arrival in Yuksom, Fliss was cared for

in a basic clinic. The police constable

checked her pulse regularly – now a

running family joke. The next day,

we managed to convince a caring

local to drive us five hours to Siliguri,

where Fliss received further medical

treatment. She was diagnosed with,

and treated for, both pulmonary and

cerebral oedema, and has since made a

full recovery.

“As low-key as ever, Fliss to this

day believes we overreacted. For me,

the toughest thing to acknowledge

has been that I almost lost her. In the

moment, I found it incredibly difficult

to compose myself to a point where I

could administer CPR. It’s tough when

the person you love is the patient and

not breathing.”

average, are Methicillin-resistant strains.

In almost all cases, they’ll do no harm.

The proportion of staph infections that

are caused by MRSA has been increasing

in New Zealand, though very slowly. In

some countries, it is up to 30%. Most staph

infections, whether MRSA or not, are still

treatable with antibiotics, but the range

of effective anti biotics is gradually getting

smaller. That’s the big worry we all have.”

MRSA is more prevalent among Māori

and Pacific peoples, probably because of

poverty and more crowded living con-

ditions. Children are generally more

vulnerable because of their less-developed

immune systems. Boils were a lot more

common among baby boomer and earlier

generations.

The problem has been growing since

British pharmaceutical company Beecham

developed the new beta-lactam antibiotic

in 1959 – strains of MRSA were reported

as early as 1961. UK economist and chair

of the Review on Antimicrobial Resist-

ance, Jim O’Neill, warned in a 2016 report

that, without urgent action, antimicrobial

resistance – not just antibiotic resistance –

will kill 10 million people a year by 2050.

Sullivan was only just able to make it to

Wellington at the end of May – five months

after the initial infection – for the Gov-

ernment House reception for Dame Jane

Goodall. He is a board member of the Jane

Goodall Institute New Zealand, which is

promoting the English primatologist and

anthropologist’s message about the power

of individuals to act on climate change and

environmental issues. He managed to stay

on his feet during the event. No one had

any idea of what he’d just been through.

As for Kelly, he recovered just in time to

travel with the family to see his son, Nick,

get married at Stoke Newington Town Hall,

London. He has no scars to remind him of

his trauma, just a new appreciation of his

SI mortality and our health service. l

M

O

N
Y
O

U
N
G

Sullivan with

partner Fliss

Winstone

and daughter

Chloe.

“The proportion of

staph infections that

are caused by MRSA

has been increasing in

New Zealand, though

very slowly. In some

countries, it is up to 30%.”