‘Get vaccinated’: Lucy Tudehope warns against fighting flu without protection

Lucy felt like she was coming down with a cold – within five days a deadly form of pneumonia took hold, with doctors warning the Tudehopes to prepare for the worst.

Lucy Tudehope with her father, veteran Liberal MP and former State Government minister, Damien Tudehope, and mum, Dianne, before she was struck down. Picture: Supplied

EXCLUSIVE: “Did I nearly die?”

These were the words Lucy Tudehope asked her older brother after she woke from a month-long coma in the Intensive Care Unit of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

The youngest daughter of veteran Liberal MP and former state government minister Damien Tudehope had been a fit and healthy university graduate when she was struck down with the flu in February.

Within five days, a deadly form of pneumonia would take hold, with her health declining so fast she would end up on life support, with doctors warning the Tudehopes to prepare for the worst.

Ten weeks on, the 25-year-old has rallied from the brink, and has a warning for people thinking of skipping the flu jab this winter.

Lucy Tudehope, the daughter of veteran Liberal MP and former state government minister Damien Tudehope, who recently woke from a coma. Picture: Facebook

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph from ICU, Ms Tudehope credited her medical team and the prayers of her family and others for her miracle recovery.

It was the last Friday of summer when the youngest of the nine Tudehope children felt like she was coming down with a cold.

Despite not feeling the best, she attended a work event, only to return to her hotel feeling worse.

“I had nausea and was throwing up,” she said.

“I was sitting in a hotel and got an Uber home.”

Over the weekend, her health deteriorated, despite taking antivirals after a telehealth appointment.

A test confirmed she had ­influenza A.

By Tuesday, she had become so unwell her mum Diane called for an ambulance.

An emotional photograph of the Tudehopes after Lucy woke from her coma. Picture: Supplied

Diagnosed with pneumonia at Ryde Hospital, she was immediately placed in an induced coma and put on a ventilator to counter her rapidly falling oxygen levels, as preparations were made to transfer her to Royal Prince Alfred.

Shockingly, Mr Tudehope said a doctor told the family that their daughter “may not make it”.

“That was the very first day,” he said.

“I just thought she’d just be in for a week or so.”

It would be the first of many confronting conversations with doctors that the Tudehopes would come to fear, where the worst-case scenarios were outlined to them.

On some days, she would appear to be winning the battle. On the other days, the infections would fight back, filling her lungs with fluid and limiting her ability to breath on her own.

She would later be placed on a life support machine known as an ECMO, or Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine.

The machine is often used to provide temporary heart and lung support for critically ill patients.

Damien Tudehope as Shadow Treasurer at NSW Parliament House in 2024. Picture: NewsWire/Damian Shaw

At the lowest point, the doctors informed the Tudehopes that their daughter might need to undergo a lung transplant as a result of tissue damage from the infection.

The entire time, the Tudehopes would take turns to be by Lucy’s side.

Her siblings – some of whom rushed home from overseas – created a roster to ensure someone would always be with her during the hospital’s opening hours of 6.30am and 10pm.

Friends delivered meals while an all-night vigil was held in St Bernadette’s church at Dundas.

Premier Chris Minns also messaged his political rival to let the Tudehopes know that he was “praying for Lucy”.

Their prayers were ­answered at Easter, with her recovery so rapid that doctors were able to take her off life support.

Upon emerging from her coma, she recalled mouthing the words: “Did I nearly die?” to one of her brothers who had been bedside. He replied: “Yes, you nearly did”.

“I was very emotional,” she said.

“I had no idea how sick I was until then.

“It didn’t feel like a month. It really felt like I was dreaming.”

Having been in bed for so long, Ms Tudehope says she is “relearning” how to walk again and could face many weeks of rehabilitation.

Now able to speak with the removal of a tracheostomy tube, Ms Tudehope was full of praise for the medical team who cared for her, singling out RPA’s head of respiratory medicine, Professor Paul Torzillo, while also attributing the prayers of her family and others for getting her through the ordeal.

She has a message to those who have not yet been vaccinated against the flu – something that she had not yet done when she became ill.

“Just get the vaccine,” she said.

As for Mr Tudehope, he said he would not have been able to make it through that time without his faith and the prayers of others.

“The display of support that we have received from our friends, who have prayed with us for our daughter. It has been remarkable,” he said.

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Originally published as ‘Get vaccinated’: Lucy Tudehope warns against fighting flu without protection