Family’s plea to help others after their own Christmas miracle

Allan Fox was desperately fighting for his life in intensive care in Frankston Hospital on Christmas Eve when a small sign turned everything around.

Allan and Alison Fox, with their Children Lachlan, 10 and Cooper, 12. Picture: Nicki Connolly

The Fox family did not know it at the time, but a Christmas miracle was under way.

Melbourne dad Allan Fox had been fighting for his life in intensive care for a month.

His wife Alison and two children Cooper, then nine and Lachlan, seven, had been waiting desperately to see if he would wake, but two treatments had already failed.

On Christmas Eve, the Frankston Hospital team decided to try a third, different treatment.

It has nearly been three years since then, but Alison Fox said she can still “vividly” remember that first moment of hope on Boxing Day, and began to tear up at the memory.

“I was walking up the corridor to the intensive care unit and (the neurologist) ran up nearly behind me and said ‘oh my god, you need to come and see this’ … and she just grabbed me by the hand.”

Alan’s pupils had responded to light for the first time in a month.

He still had a long journey ahead of him — but that “small sign” meant everything.

Intensive care director Kavi Haji said they never lost hope for Allan.

“Giving up was not an option,” she said.

Allan was first admitted to the hospital on November 25 2019, feeling unwell and unable to move his hands properly.

Alison said she knew something was wrong, so she ignored his general practitioner – who put his symptoms down to a chest infection — and Allan crashed soon after they arrived at emergency.

He was rushed to resuscitation and the only way he could communicate was with eyes – looking up for yes and down for no.

“Within two hours of leaving the doctor’s surgery, he was intubated,” Alison said.

He was diagnosed with Guillain Barre syndrome, an auto-immune disorder that affected his nerves, and his brain and spinal cord were also inflamed.

That night marked the start of more than 680 days in hospital.

Alan says it means everything to be with Alison, Lachlan and Cooper. Picture: Nicki Connolly

After four months in intensive care at Frankston Hospital, he was moved to a specialist unit at the Austin Hospital, where he relearnt to talk and to breathe on his own again without a ventilator.

This move – at the end of March 2020 – coincided with the pandemic, meaning Allan sometimes went months without seeing his boys due to visitor restrictions.

But amid the heartbreak and uncertainty around her – Alison remembers the moments of kindness and, sometimes, joy.

There was the triage nurse from emergency, who came to check on Alan later and held Alison’s hand while he was intubated, and Associate Professor Haji, who would patiently explain everything to Alan’s worried children.

The cleaners and personal care assistant staff who would pop in to tell Alan riddles in case he was awake and the doctors and nurses who stayed in touch after he left to check on his progress.

There was the day in late 2020, when Alan surprised his kids by speaking for the first time and they “nearly jumped out of their shorts” and later that year, when he surprised his kids again by coming home for one night on Christmas Eve.

But the biggest milestone of all was the day he moved home permanently on October 16 2021.

While Alan still faces health challenges, he said it means everything to be with his family and celebrate another Christmas at home with them.

“Seeing the magic of Christmas when the kids are opening their presents, it’s better than anything,” he said.

Alison said she was happy the family was “back under the one roof”.

“For the boys to be able to say goodnight to their dad and wake up in the morning and see him in the morning, and just talk to him whenever they wanted to.”

Now, they want to give back to the hospital who gave them so much.

They have partnered with Peninsula Health for their Christmas Appeal, in a bid to raise funds so the hospital can train more staff to use the very machine which helped save Alan’s life.

Prof Haji said the specialist ultrasound machine allows them to make a quicker diagnosis, but the training simulator is shared between multiple hospitals and “breaking down” from overuse.

The hospital needs to raise $200,000, but Prof Haji said she thinks they can get there.

“I don’t think this is impossible,” she said.

And who knows? Maybe the Fox family has one more Christmas miracle in store.

To donate, visit https://www.peninsulahealth.org.au/support-our-icu/

Little Sophia’s merry milestone

The magic of Christmas has arrived early for baby Sophia Rose.

The Royal Children’s Hospital patient finished her cancer treatment on Friday, allowing her to not only return home in time for Christmas next week, but also her first birthday.

Her overjoyed parents Gabriella and Lee Nardella celebrated their daughter’s milestone on Sunday at home with family and friends.

The occasion was more meaningful than most birthdays, with little Sophia enduring more in her first 12 months on earth than others do in 12 years.

Gabriella said she first noticed something was wrong when Sophia was just a few months old, and had issues with vomiting and ‘tummy time’.

“The maternal health nurse reassured that babies do vomit,” she said.

“But I said this can’t be normal … so we brought her into the Royal Children’s Hospital.”

In the space of one night, their baby girl was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour and they had to prepare for surgery.

“It was a 10-hour turn around of your daughter is totally fine, to now she’s been diagnosed with brain cancer,” Gabriella said.

Lee and Gabriella Nardella will go home in time for Christmas. Picture: David Caird

“They did surgery to remove the tumour at 8 o’clock in the morning.

“They said to have that type of surgery on a four-month-old baby was truly crazy and the surgeon has to operate upside down.

“She did an amazing job. It amazes us what they can actually do.”

The surgery was successful, but Sophia still had challenges ahead and – with the exception of two weeks – has been in hospital every night from April until now.

Gabriella said her daughter underwent six cycles of chemotherapy to ensure any remaining cancer cells were killed, and that while it was difficult, she and her husband were determined to stay strong.

“You look at her and she gives us strength,” she said.

“We tell each other all the time, we have to be strong for her.”

Sophia’s parents say having their little girl come home is a Christmas wish come true. Picture: Alvin J Aquino, The Royal Children’s Hospital

Gabrielle said after two false starts, she and Lee finally got their Christmas wish on Friday, bringing their daughter home to her overjoyed two-year-old brother Luca.

“He’s excited,” she said.

“He’s so happy to have her home, he always used to say ‘Sophia come home?”

“When he wakes up he asks ‘Sophie awake mummy?”

She said the family was looking forward to being together, especially for Sophia’s birthday and Christmas.

“It’s very emotional – but a happy emotion,” Gabriella said.

“She’s got a long way to come … but I’m happy to be able to enjoy her and her enjoy just being a baby, and not being stuck in hospital.

“On Christmas morning, it will be good to have her and Luca together.

“And we have a big family. She hasn’t seen her aunts and uncles since she was diagnosed.”

And while the parents hope to see less of the Royal Children’s Hospital in the future, the bonds and relationships formed on the ward won’t be forgotten.

Gabriella said they will be spending Christmas Day with a family from Tasmania, whose young son was a patient at the hospital.

“Their child has cancer as well and Sophia and their little boy are only two months apart,” she said.

“You literally just become like family.

“There’s some people who you just connect with.

“The nurses become like family too.”

“Sophia misses their voices.

“We’re just grateful for everything the Royal Children’s Hospital did.”