Three days was the verdict. Three days to live unless new lungs became available or he would die. This was the stark message conveyed to Grenfells Jackie Eppelstun and her three daughters in October, 2005 about her husband and their father.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Scott Eppelstun is a livestock contractor and is used to long days, a few aches and pains go with the job but, in mid-2004, he felt worse than ever and could hardly drag himself out of bed. I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, Scott said, and thought this was why I was feeling ordinary but then I felt as though I was getting the flu.
After Christmas that year, the family went to Narooma for a holiday and while there Scott began to feel very unwell. He went to a doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia, he was admitted to Cowra hospital when they returned home and then transferred to Orange when his entire system crashed.
Doctors in Orange told Jackie that I was in a very dangerous condition and put me on life-support which included being put in an induced coma for a week, I went home in April but not long after I was airlifted to St Vincents Hospital where I had a lung biopsy. I was on oxygen all the time and couldnt talk. In October my system crashed again and back I went to St Vincents.
I was then added to the donor lung waiting list and, once on this list, it can take up to nine months before a donor is available, however, I was worked-up which is the process of assessments undertaken to evaluate the capacity of the recipient, this process normally takes weeks but, in my case, it was achieved in under a week and, on the morning of Friday 5th, we were told I had three days to live if there wasnt a new set of lungs available for me. Then, at 5pm that afternoon came the incredible news - lungs were available and Id be going to surgery that night, Scott recalled.
Surgeon, Paul Jantz installed the new lungs and Allan Glanville has kept me alive since, Allan is the Director of Thoracic Medicine and Director of Lung Transplants and has a farm near Bathurst. We usually talk about sheep but he is there 24 hours a day if I need him and his international expertise in immunosuppressant drugs means I have the best person in the world at my fingertips. From being told I had three days to live eleven and a half years ago, I am so grateful for this borrowed time. Ive seen my daughters graduate, I now have two daughters and grandsons living in Grenfell and another on the way. My daughter, Grace, is the retiring The Land Show Girl and my wife, Jackie, is by my side through ups and downs.
Since becoming The Land RAS Show Girl, Grace has campaigned raising awareness of donating organs so others may live. My personal experience is at the centre of why I do this. I was only 12 when Dad was first struck down with Acute Interstitial Pneumonitis and then had the life-saving transplant, she explained. The Eppelstuns are proud to be part of the Herd of Hope campaign culminating in the cattle drive across Sydney Harbour Bridge in May.
If it hadnt been for the woman donor of Dads lungs, he would be dead. Instead, he is part of our family, the Grenfell community, the Australian Livestock Contractors and providing emotional support and inspiration to new recipients, Grace said.
Pennie Scott
I am an independent scholar with interests and expertise in regenerative agriculture, equity and justice for farmers, functioning healthy landscapes and the culture in agri-culture. My aim is to inform holistically and honestly to ensure readers have access to what they need, now.
I am an independent scholar with interests and expertise in regenerative agriculture, equity and justice for farmers, functioning healthy landscapes and the culture in agri-culture. My aim is to inform holistically and honestly to ensure readers have access to what they need, now.
