A young life saved

Meet the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine Program’s 1000th patient, 15-year old Caitlyn Liersch.

At first Caitlyn Liersch’s family thought she was playing up when she was lying on the floor one morning last September, complaining of sore feet and acting “silly”.

Was there something in her school shoe? Had she been bitten?

“Should I call an ambulance, or are you joking around?,” her mother Kathy Liersch wanted to know, not fully understanding what was happening.

But within minutes, Caitlyn could no longer stand. Her words were slurred. Only one side of her mouth moved when asked to smile.

Her family says she is a walking, talking miracle of modern medicine after their youngest daughter suffered a heart attack and stroke on the same day.

The Moama teenager left hospital three weeks later, with some reduced sensitivity in her left hand as her only scar from this against-theodds survival.

She is the youngest person — and the 1000thto be treated by the renowned Victorian Stroke Telemedicine Program. The objective: to ensure all Victorians are within one hour of specialist neurological care after stroke.

“She’s our little miracle. We’re so grateful this telemedicine service was there,” Kathy says. Just two years earlier, the same event would have left Caitlyn with lifelong and severe disabilities.

The Victorian Stroke Telemedicine program offers regional hospitals access to technology and specialist medical advice so a quick diagnosis can be made and a clot-busting treatment can be provided within the critical four-hour window.

Within minutes of Caitlyn’s arrival at hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital neurologist Associate Professor Bruce Campbell assessed