Port Lincoln family with two children with undiagnosed seizures forced to travel 650km for treatment

A family with two sick kids forced to travel hundreds of kilometres for answers say a lack of regional medical services made them consider moving to the city.

Parents Tamara Humenick and Ryan Dawson’s worlds were rocked when their daughter unexpectedly started convulsing and frothing at the mouth in their Port Lincoln home earlier this year.

It was the first of six seizures Everly went on to have that day.

Tamara, Ryan and their three children Kyeson, Everly and Arvie. Picture: Supplied

The three year old was immediately rushed to Port Lincoln Hospital, sending parents Tamara and Ryan into trepidation.

“It was so scary,” Ms Humenick said.

“She stopped breathing – we had no idea what was going on.

“They called a code blue and we had to leave the room because there was too many people in there – it took her a good 20 minutes to come around.

“No one really explained what happened or the medication she’d had.

“When she woke up we were in the Women’s and Children’s hospital.”

Everly suffered from six seizures and was flown to the Women’s and Children's Hospital due to the lack of services available regionally. Picture: Supplied

Everly and Arvie both started experiencing random and unexpected seizures early this year. Picture: Supplied

The family began regularly travelling the 650km to Adelaide for tests unavailable in the Eyre Peninsula.

Amid back and forth travel, the couples 18-month old son, Arvie, also began having seizures.

Six month later neither child has a diagnosis.

“Apparently it’s quite common – one in five children will suffer a seizure at some stage in their life,” Ms Humenick said.

“But the fact that it is now both of them makes us think it is genetic.”

The children have undergone genetic testing but Ms Humenick said was difficult to obtain regionally.

Both children require daily medication to manage the severity of their seizures and regular visits to Adelaide, placing consistent financial strain on the family.

Ms Humenick said she dabbled with the idea of moving her young family to Adelaide, but can’t justify relocating given the current ambulance ramping situation.

An SA Health spokesperson said it prioritise providing care to regional patients “as close to their homes as possible”, but have services available if travel is required.

“Regional patients can access metro-based specialist services from their local hospital through the SA Digital Telehealth Network – reducing time and travel requirements,” the spokesperson said.

“The patient assistance transport scheme (PATS) also plays a critical role in supporting regional families and communities who need to travel over 100kms for medical specialist services.”

Arvie and Everly with their grandmothers, Sharon Humenick and Jenny Dawson. Picture: Supplied

Ms Humenick said they have occasionally used these services but it’s their mothers who they are truly grateful for.

Sharon Humenick, Tamara’s mother started a GoFundMe last week in hopes of raising some much needed funds for the young family.

“It’s just those little things they need help with like cleaning, because they can’t leave the kids – they’re just too scared,” Mrs Humenick said.

“They’re doing it so tough, I just wanted to take away some of the financial stress and help the kids out.”