The off duty country nurse who saved Nathan Stapleton’s life
Off duty nurse Louise McCabe had just finished her own game of rugby when former Cronulla Shark Nathan Stapleton fell awkwardly in a tackle in the following match. McCabe’s quick thinking saved his life.
NSW
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Louise McCabe doesn’t like being called a hero but those who watched her save the life of former NRL star Nathan Stapleton on a muddy rugby field have no doubt that’s what she is.
“It doesn’t sit comfortably with me, there were a lot of people involved, I wasn’t on my own, everyone just followed instructions and did the job and all hands on deck and it just flowed really nicely,” the 36-year-old nurse from West Wyalong said.
But those quick actions meant the difference between life and death. The 32-year-old former Cronulla Shark, who was playing his first game for a country rugby union club, fell awkwardly after a tackle, breaking his neck and going into cardiac arrest.
The mum to four-year-old Matilda and four-month-old George is a former Canberra Brumbies rugby player who moved back to her parents’ hometown in 2015.
She had just finished playing in the women’s game between Boorowa and West Wyalong. Her fiance Scott had just dropped her uniform off and she was about to drive to her night shift at West Wyalong District Hospital when she heard a man was down.
“Usually the opposition have their own strappers and I don’t usually get involved but, for whatever reason, I went out to Nathan,” she said. “I noticed it was a spinal injury straight away, just the way he was presenting in the position he was laying.
“I introduced myself and he looked like he was gasping for breath. I asked if he was right and I could see he wasn’t but I was seeing what I could get out of him.
“He was blue in the face, so I said we need to get him in a better position. We used spinal precautions and log-rolled him into a better position and I thought that might help with his breathing. It was evident his breathing was not regular so, from our training of basic life support, if the patient is not breathing regularly, commence CPR.”
Jason Stuart is the president of the Boorowa Goldies and was watching the game.
“It was just a tackle but it just went wrong, there was no malice or intent. You see players injured and you hope for the best but it was it was very apparent this one was very serious within 10-15 seconds of it happening,” he said.
“By the time I got out there things were very grim. Louise had just kicked into gear and just took control of the whole show with her professionalism and care during that time.
“Someone needed to take that role and we are so grateful she was there to do it.”
Doctors now know Stapleton went into cardiac arrest shortly after the tackle and, if not for the fast actions of Ms McCabe, he would have died.
“Without a doubt she brought him back to life and saved his life multiple times in that 10 minute period,” Mr Stuart said.
Coach Andrew Corcoran said he followed Ms McCabe’s lead. “She was just a gun,” he said. “I (had) run on the field pretty quick and could see he was fighting to get air in.”
Ms McCabe played down her role. “CPR is exhausting so we rotated through and talked them through; I took a bit of a leadership role in facilitating that until the paramedics got there. It felt like forever but it could have been 10 minutes,” she said.
“It is an amazing outcome for Nathan considering the circumstance, so I am still processing it. If you look at the survival statistics (for cardiac arrest outside a hospital) it is like 10 per cent and, with a spinal injury, even lower, so it is amazing what has happened.
“I definitely do feel like I saved his life, I acknowledge that I saved his life and medical professionals have given me credit.
“Katie (Stapleton’s wife) rang me and thanked me for what I did and she said the doctors had said if we didn’t start early CPR, Nathan wouldn’t be here today.
“I’m very overwhelmed and I’ve had Nathan’s family reach out to me again to thank me.”
Stapleton is now in the Prince of Wales intensive care unit where he has recovered consciousness but no movement. His spinal cord has been damaged at the C4 level of his cervical vertebrae and, at this stage, the injury has left him a quadriplegic, paralysed from the shoulders down.
His wife Kate, who is expecting their second child in the first week of July, and 18-month-old son Harry have stayed by his side.
Kirstie Appler is Nathan’s sister-in-law and, along with her husband Andrew, shares the same sheep and cattle property 20km outside of Boorowa with the Stapletons. She said everyone thought the worst when he left the field with the paramedics.
“The rugby blokes were terrified Kate was going to Sydney to turn off Nathan’s life support, but he is still with us,” she said.
“The best update is the doctors are confident he will be able to breathe on his own. That is a huge positive given the level of his injury in the cervical vertebrae. That is the immediate goal, independent breathing and get him out of ICU into the spinal ward.”
Mr Corcoran said the event has left the town shaken.
“It was a pretty traumatic event, a lot are questioning why they play footy,” he said.
“We are going through stages of reflection. Rugby Australia has been outstanding offering help and support, and some outstanding blokes from Sports Chaplaincy Australia came to our first training back. It was his first season with us. His brother-in-law plays with us. It was just so unlucky.”
Although there are tough days ahead, the family are very grateful to Ms McCabe.
“She is an absolute hero. Without Louise, we wouldn’t have Nathan. I wish we could show her how much we appreciate her,” Ms Appler said.
Ms McCabe went on to work the night shift that evening but she is still coming to terms with what happened.
“I’m not valuing it the way I should just yet,” she said.
“It is one thing to do it in your work environment but to be in the middle of a rugby field with people you don’t know … this is beyond anything I could imagine, saving someone’s life with CPR.
“How do you stay humble about it all? I don’t want to sound egotistical but it is an amazing thing I’ve done and, in saying that, I would not be able to do it on my own without the wonderful people who supported me to facilitate what we did that day.
“We all did a marvellous job. I feel privileged I can be there for people, it is my privilege to
be a nurse.”
Ms Appler has started a crowd funding effort to help the family.
gofundme.com /f/nathan-stapletons-spinal-injury-recovery
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Originally published as The off duty country nurse who saved Nathan Stapleton’s life
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