Hector Saenz is one of just two Australians that needed a lung transplant because of Covid

Don’t tell Hector Saenz Covid is “just like a bad cold”. Struck down so badly by the virus, it took 1500 people, 4000 hours of care and a double lung transplant to save him. This is his story.

Hector Saenz remembers Tuesday 13 December well. Then nothing for two months.

By the time he won his hard-fought battle against Covid Mr Saenz would have spent six months in hospital, almost died twice, required 4000 hours of critical care from 1500 health professionals and received a double lung transplant at The Alfred.

But two weeks before Christmas 2022 life was good. Mr Saenz, 61, and wife Ana were about to head off on holiday, still basking in the news they were to become first-time grandparents.

He had a sniffle, nothing significant and certainly not enough to interrupt their plans, but Mrs Saenz convinced her husband of 30 years to take a Covid test. To be safe.

Hector Saenz and wife Ana will celebrate his birthday this weekend as they anticipate the arrival of their first grandchild. Picture: Ian Currie

The Hallam printer was annoyed when it returned a positive result as they had both been vaccinated against the infectious virus and he had managed to escape it so far.

The following day Mr Saenz started to feel unwell. His wife, who had also tested positive, barely had a symptom. By Thursday he was in the fight of his life.

Mr Saenz would become one of just two Australians needing a lung transplant because of Covid and he now holds the record for the longest time spent on a heart-lung bypass machine at The Alfred called an ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

“I just kept getting sicker and sicker,” Mr Saenz said this week. “Ana called an ambulance on the Thursday night; I told her not to, but I did think I was dying. I couldn’t breathe.

“After that I have no memory of anything until February.”

Mrs Saenz, who for six months made the three-hour round trip on public transport from Hallam to The Alfred daily to be at her husband’s side, can still picture him that night; lips tinged purple, a healthy man who had never had a serious illness fighting to suck air into his lungs.

Dancing helped Hector on his way to health following a lung transplant. Picture: Ian Currie

“She saved me that night,” Mr Saenz said. “My wife is the spine of my life; always there for me, every day. This has been a big sacrifice for her.”

The next few months were a rollercoaster and by May, the medical team at The Alfred prepared the family for the reality that he needed a lung transplant.

Dr Brooke Riley is an intensivist at the hospital, one of the estimated 1500 health professionals who worked together to help save Mr Saenz.

She said he was brought to The Alfred from another hospital two days before Christmas last year; “the sickest of the sick”.

Dr Riley said people who need the support of the heart-lung bypass machine for Covid were typically on it for 40 days.

“Hector far exceeded that.”

Hector Saenz is one of Two Australians who required a lung transplant following Covid. Picture: Supplied

She explains ECMO is not a cure, but that the machine provides time for the lungs to recover in those eligible patients considered fit and with a reversible condition.

“As time went on, as we know with Covid, his lungs became more stiff and weren’t recovering and Hector’s ability to wean off ECMO was looking less likely,” Dr Riley said.

“It was definitely a very tough journey for Hector and his family and not without its complications, but the whole team here worked so well together to avoid any complications or further issues and he was positive and motivated throughout all of it.

“And the salsa dancing was important.”

Mr Saenz remained on ECMO for a record 165 days, but he continued to get worse.

The medical team told the family, which includes son David, 27, that he may not recover and if he did that Mr Saenz could spend the rest of his life being cared for in a nursing home.

Mr Saenz remembers being immobile in bed seven days a week for six months, but was full of praise for the kindness and the care he received saying it kept him motivated.

Despite the motivation to get well, the thought of a lung transplant was, Mr Saenz said, daunting and scary.

“The way it was explained to us was this was a life or death situation,” he said.

Mr Saenz said when he went to theatre for the transplant operation he went with the ECMO machine and the oxygen and the associated paraphernalia that had been keeping him alive for months.

Hector Saenz and some of The Alfred team who helped to save his life. Picture: Supplied.

“When I woke up the following day, it was a dark room and the ECMO machine and oxygen machines weren’t there. I thought I was in heaven, then I realised the operation went well,” Mr Saenz said.

“Two weeks later I went home.”

Salsa continues to help with the recovery.

“Before my lung transplant it would take an ECMO team of seven people to try to stand me up and walk me all around the wards as therapy,” he said.

“Later, as a joke, when the nurses said let’s do squats I said ‘why don’t we dance?’ I was just joking with them, but from then on everyone wanted to dance.”

While looking forward to welcoming his granddaughter any day, Mr Saenz also thought of his donor’s family.

“I would like to thank the people who put their name down as donors because how important is it to save a life? It is precious and I am living proof of that kindness.

“I have been given a great gift to be here today to meet my granddaughter.”

And of his Covid journey, he said he was one who didn’t care about Covid or looking after himself with a mask.

“But now I believe that it exists. It is real. I had a close call,” Mr Saenz said.

“Considering where I came from, being here today, it is a miracle.”

Hector Saenz and Anu made an emotional visit to The Alfred’s ICU to thank some of the more than 1500 people who helped save his life. Picture: Supplied

Saving Hector involved:

•4000 hours of critical care

•A team of 1500 people

•165 days on a heart-lung bypass machine

•174 days in ICU

•A lung transplant

Critical Care Appeal

The Alfred’s Critical Care Appeal is an annual fundraising campaign that this year is raising funds to support its cancer care and research, and also helping to fund the new Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre set to open next year.

For details or to donate visit www.alfredappeal.org.au