Original subtitles

WOMAN: Ambulance. What's the emergency?

WOMAN: Quickly! We're at Southport! OK, Southport?

NARRATOR: The Gold Coast,

where the lights burn bright and the sunshine never ends.

While many Aussies call it home...

..every year 12 million tourists come to play

on this stretch of golden coastline.

WOMAN: He was surfing when he got bitten on both legs by a shark.

I don't think I'm going in the sea again.

But the good times can often turn ugly.

I want the pelvic binder on him, OK?

And when they do... She's not breathing.

..these are the people you want on your side.

Nothing that we can't fix, sweetheart, alright?

(BABY CRIES)

I'm still very concerned about this man.

There's nothing like Ebola.

Whether you're just visiting or you live here...

My baby's life is going to be cut shorter because of this...

They don't want to see me die.

She can't be replaced.

These are the real stories...

Hey, I love you too, buddy.

..of the cutting-edge medical teams...

Do not move your head.

We need to get that clot out straight away.

Good work, guys.

..who pick you up...

OK, let's keep moving.

It's the best job I've done anyway, nailing things.

..patch you up...

Super power!

The fairy dust, it's very magical, and it fixes all sorts of things.

..and put you back in paradise.

Tonight on Gold Coast Medical...

MAN: It's a shark attack.

..a local surfer is mauled by a shark.

(MAN GROANS)

And our cameras capture a medical miracle...

This is a very powerful creature. It's a very powerful injury.

..as doctors race to save Matt's legs and life.

Are we getting any sort of a blood pressure out of this?

He could still lose this leg.

This surgeon lives the high life,

working with huge cosmetic challenges.

Nobody on the Gold Coast wants to make their breasts smaller

unless they've got a good reason.

And now he faces one of his biggest - Jemma's double Js.

It's a struggle.

And when all hope seems lost...

WOMAN: It's a mum's worst nightmare,

and there's just absolutely nothing that you can do.

..this doctor will work her incredible magic.

This is Princess Charlotte.

So, we've got her a room with a view. Good.

♪ Come and get it if you really want it

♪ Come and get it if you really need it... ♪

It's the golden coastline that swarms with surfers and sun lovers

any time and any day of the week,

but for a nation that lives for the beach,

there's one medical emergency that horrifies more than any other.

(SIREN WAILS)

WOMAN (PHONE): What town or suburb?

MAN (PHONE): Yeah, we're in Ballina. Ballina, NSW. It's a shark attack!

OK. OK. Yeah.

Yeah, they dragged him up the beach. Has he still got his legs?

MAN (PHONE): Yeah, he's got them.

He's still got his legs, but he's been bitten right across the legs.

It looks really bad. The whole leg just torn apart.

OK.

I seen the guy coming out of the water

and actually running up to the beach, yelling and...

So, I thought, "Oh, there's something wrong here."

So I sort of went towards him and he said, "Ring 000, mate."

He said, "It was a shark attack."

Local surfer Matt was mauled and nearly had both legs ripped off

while surfing at the Ballina breakwall.

(MAN GROANS)

Matt's girlfriend, Suzy, watched as he was dragged from the water,

his legs a bloodied mess.

The only thing stopping 32-year-old Matt from bleeding out

are crude tourniquets around the top of his thighs

made from surfboard leg ropes.

At the Gold Coast University Hospital,

a major trauma call has gone out.

What we understand so far is there's been a gentleman in his 30s,

who's been attacked by a shark.

He's had a catastrophic amount of bleeding from those wounds.

Vascular surgeons are here.

And is really just on the cusp of survival at the moment.

The time of injury was well over an hour now.

After any trauma,

the greatest chance of saving someone's life is in the first hour,

known as the golden hour.

But for Matt, that's come and gone.

A large team of trauma specialists converge at the rooftop helipad.

Along with the emergency doctors, orthopaedic, and plastic surgeons

is vascular surgeon Dr Will Butcher.

He was able to have a blood transfusion on the helicopter,

which I think is very important.

Once somebody loses a lot of blood or they become very cold,

other systems start to shut down.

More than two hours after the attack,

Matt Lee touches down at Gold Coast University Hospital.

Dr Raja Sawhney traded life in cold, grey London

for a glittering career as the head of plastic surgery on the Gold Coast.

♪ This one for them hood girls Them good girls

♪ Straight masterpieces

♪ Stylin', wilin' Living it up in the city... ♪

The Gold Coast was a big attraction for me as a prospect to live in.

Just liked the lifestyle, the beaches, the relaxed atmosphere,

and a great place to bring up children

if I ever get to having any.

The Gold Coast is certainly home for me.

I've moved most of my family out here

and three of my best friends have moved here.

The most important thing is that

I've gone three shades darker in the Queensland sun.

Yeah, just get him in. I'll have a look at it, no problem.

It's not just the golden lifestyle that gives Raja his swagger.

He's also a man who loves his work.

It's always interesting.

It's never boring, and every operation's not the same.

You know, as soon as you tell someone you're a plastic surgeon,

all they think of is,

"Oh, he does, you know, breast augmentation

"and that's what he does," and we do,

and I enjoy doing breast augmentation

when I feel like doing it,

but it's not something that I would choose to do every day of the week.

Plastic surgery on the Gold Coast is not all about bigger boobs.

In fact, most of Raja's surgery is life-changing reconstructive work,

including breast reductions.

Nobody on the Gold Coast wants to make their breasts smaller

unless they've got a good reason.

And Raja's next patient has a very good reason.

So, what are you looking at? Tangled.

Do you like that movie? It's pretty good, actually, isn't it?

It takes a special kind of doctor

to win over the hospital's younger patients

and make them feel safe in unfamiliar surroundings.

Great. Sounds good, really good, actually, this morning.

Dr Christa Bell has three medical specialities -

paediatrics, emergency medicine, and magical medicine.

Was it you told me you didn't see unicorns

and that I was telling you a lie?

And you're covered in unicorn's dust!

Yes!

The fairy dust is very magical and it fixes all sorts of things.

It's amazing.

She's a good driver, isn't she?

This part of the hospital is always running flat out.

And so is Dr Bell.

There's a lot of play.

I think that's what I like - you get to play all the time.

I'm a bit hyperactive. Like, I'm a bit...

We got an escaper, have we?

Yeah, she's finally going home today.

You're finally going home. Hooray!

I like bright things,

and obviously the fairy dust is all part of the magic with the kids

and getting them relaxed and not seeing you as a scary doctor.

WOMAN (PHONE): Ambulance. What's the town or suburb of the emergency?

WOMAN (PHONE): Labrador.

The case has been seen by a doctor or an RN, and what's the diagnosis?

Severe dehydration.

I just got a call from QAS. They're bringing in a six-year-old.

Her sugars are reading high.

She'll end up coming to us anyway up in ICU.

We've just had notification from the ambulance

they've got a six-year-old who's got very high blood sugars

and looks quite dehydrated.

OK, right, I'm gonna go out the front and see what's happening.

Hello. Welcome.

Little Charlotte has been steadily dropping weight

since having her tonsils out a few weeks ago.

When she began struggling for breath this morning,

her mum called an ambulance.

OK. Shall we go and find you a bed and see if we can make you better?

Yeah, sounds like a plan. Come on, then.

No vomiting with us, but nausea,

and then we've given as well 250mL of fluid for that dehydration.

At just 17kg, Charlotte is 4kg lighter than she should be.

Blood tests may explain why she's been wasting away.

OK, Mum, come near. You can have the chair.

You're such a good little soldier, aren't you? Show me that tongue.

Is it a very dry little... oh, it is a dry tongue! Poor tongue.

WOMAN: It's a mum's worst nightmare,

and there's just absolutely nothing that you can do,

but watch your child in that pain

and wish you could take it for her.

32-year-old Matt Lee was attacked by a shark just over two hours ago.

He was surfing when he got bitten on both legs by a shark.

He was conscious throughout, taken onto the beach,

and when we arrived,

they'd tourniqueted his left leg with a surfboard strap.

We've given him two litres of blood.

I was giving him ketamine for pain relief,

however, he got quite upset and agitated,

so, just as we were about to load him,

we decided to intubate him and ventilate him.

We have not been able to get a radial pulse at any point.

He's had brachial pulse throughout,

and our blood pressure cuff has been very unreliable,

so I've not seen a reliable blood pressure.

Alright, then, I think let's go to theatre.

Thank you very much. That's OK.

Move, guys. Time's everything for this patient.

There's no time to take Matt down to emergency.

Instead he'll be taken straight to the operating theatre

for life-saving surgery.

A medical team of more than 20 will work to stop the bleeding first.

All reconstructive surgery on Matt's legs

will have to wait until he's out of shock.

When they're shocked and cold,

you don't really want to be doing major surgery.

You want to be doing as little as possible,

and so mainly the principles here

are to sort of get control over everything that we can,

with the anticipation he's going to need

a lot more surgery down the track.

If Matt survives the next 48 hours,

his blood chemistry, heart strength, and body temperature

should come back to safer levels.

And that's going to make any subsequent surgery

that's going to go for a long period of time

a lot safer and a lot easier for us.

But right now, Matt's life is hanging in the balance.

The team can see that the massive predator's teeth

ripped through Matt's legs like jelly.

This is a very powerful creature. It's a very powerful injury.

We've got a significant defect laterally and also behind the knee.

Femur is intact, but the ligaments are looking dodgy.

Can I have a blood gas syringe, please?

It's incredibly rare for cameras to capture the aftermath

of a savage shark attack.

Alright, we've got leg access now.

Give him a couple of units of blood. Where's your big line?

After a series of blood and fluid transfusions...

Are we getting any sort of a blood pressure out of this?

..Matt's blood pressure comes back online.

Oh, look at that! Well done, guys. Good job!

Finally, Dr Butcher can get his first clear look at the damage.

And what the problem will be is that there will be an arterial...

I've been here for six years at the Gold Coast,

and I've never seen anything like that.

The last bad shark attack was about ten years ago.

And I guess that reflects that a lot of the patients don't make it.

OK, is that one done?

Dr Butcher decides that this leg, Matt's right,

has the best chance of being saved, so he makes it the priority.

Guys, we'll prep this leg.

I just want to get on and see what's going on here.

If this leg's not too bad,

we'll wash it up, put in some tacking stitches,

you know, sort it all out, and then we'll...

'Cause that one's the big injury. Yep.

OK. Is everybody on board with that? Yep.

Everybody comfortable? Everybody knows the plan?

The instant the tourniquet applied on the beach is removed,

blood begins to pour from the wound.

Can we plug in the tourniquet and blow it up?

200, please, on that side.

A surgical tourniquet is put on,

but now there's a race against time to save at least one of Matt's legs.

Tourniquet's on at 12:45.

And a miracle is needed to save both.

♪ Don't let time slip you away

♪ If you got something to say

♪ Never wait another day... ♪

NARRATOR: In the Children's Critical Care Unit,

Dr Christa Bell is hoping the results of a blood test

will explain why six-year-old Charlotte

has been getting weaker and weaker.

CHRISTA: Mum was worried, 'cause she'd had some tummy pain,

and she'd noticed she was breathing quite fast.

They'd also noticed she'd lost some weight,

and things weren't quite right.

When the results come back,

Charlotte's blood sugar levels are through the roof,

which confirms a much more permanent condition.

So, yes, Mum, she's definitely got diabetes.

CHRISTA: It's a big shock for most families,

because nobody wants their child to have anything wrong with them,

particularly a condition

that is going to be a lifelong condition for them.

It takes quite a bit for that information to sink in

and there's obviously a grieving process associated with that.

The news hits doubly hard,

because Teresa watched her own father die early

from complications related to diabetes.

It's definitely type 1,

which is where your pancreas isn't making enough insulin.

Your heart just sinks,

I guess, because if you have

some sort of a connection to diabetes, which I did -

my father was type 1 diabetic.

He died at an early age of 52.

So, that was my immediate reaction,

was that my baby's life is going to be cut shorter

because of this... disease.

So, what we need to do is very, very slowly

correct the fluid that she's lost.

Treating severe dehydration in such a tiny patient has its own dangers.

One of the risks is that if we push things too hard,

you can get fluid shifting into the brain and you get brain swelling,

so we'll be watching her really closely for that.

So, we'll do what we call neuro obs quite closely.

So, any signs of her becoming less rousable, losing consciousness,

being confused, complaining of headache,

we'll take quite seriously.

One step at a time, alright?

It's a lot for mum to take in,

and the next 48 hours for little Charlotte are critical.

Nobody on the Gold Coast wants to make their breasts smaller

unless they've got a good reason.

Whoo! Good job! And this one?

Someone with a good reason is 23-year-old mum Jemma,

whose breasts are size double J.

Oh, this is... it's a struggle.

(LAUGHS) It's a struggle, it is.

After having my son, they got bigger,

when I was expecting to, or hoping to lose them.

Now it's just constant neck pain, back pain.

It just sends, like, pains, like, right up even into my ears,

down through my shoulder blades,

even lower back pain as well.

So, I can't move. It's, like, limited.

It always hurts - always hurts.

Jemma and her mum, Linda, are hoping that breast reduction surgery

will make her more comfortable and confident.

LINDA: She's always been quite big

and she's always been very to herself.

You know, not very confident,

and being able to go out and buy clothes and things like that

would be nice for her.

Buying flattering outfits and comfy bras

has been difficult for Jemma.

But if Dr Raja can successfully reshape Jemma's breasts,

he will also reshape her life.

RAJA: And just flip your hair back for me, darling.

Alright, OK.

It's like I'm tailoring you a suit.

In preparation for today's surgery,

Dr Raja marks out the pattern of cuts he will make on Jemma's breasts.

Just marking the midline here for you.

I have to have artistic ability to make it aesthetically pleasing,

otherwise it would take away from the result.

The marking is the main part of the procedure here,

and then surgery is about matching the dots up.

So, this is basically designing a new bra

of her very own skin, if you like.

So, this is the skin that's going to remain

and all of this skin inside here, we're going to take away,

maintaining the nipple area.

They'll now be sitting much more perky, high up on her chest and -

looking forward - she'll also have much more fill of her upper pole

and a much better cleavage, which is what she wants back,

and she will have that after today.

Yes!

32-year-old Matt was surfing

when a large shark attacked and tore apart his legs.

Now Matt is in the Gold Coast University Hospital operating theatre

under the care of a team of vascular surgeons.

Does make you wonder why they keep doing this, this surfing thing.

I don't think I'm going in the sea again.

Our job is to explore the main artery and veins in the leg

to see whether or not they're damaged.

MAN: Have a bend. Yep.

Could I get a right angle, thanks?

The right leg looks to be more intact,

so the team will try to save it first.

I think, in the scheme of things,

that's probably not anything too major.

An inspection of the deepest gash on the right leg

finds some very good news.

There's bone, but there's the sciatic nerve sitting there -

the sciatic nerve, but it's intact.

Miraculously, the main nerve controlling movement is undamaged -

and the miracles don't stop there.

When we explored the wounds,

the arteries were sitting there on view in the bottom of the wound.

If the main blood supply lines in the leg were cut,

Matt would have bled to death before he got to the beach.

So, I think we should maybe give it a wash-out.

Yep, wash-out and then let the tourniquet off.

The wash-out removes the last of the sand from Matt's right leg,

then it's time to pack it away for the day.

And all we're going to be doing is just a temporary thing.

I mean, the thing about bringing it together

is to sort out the bleeding.

The stitches going in today

are just to tack the sides of the wound closed.

Every opening will have to be painstakingly sealed

by plastic surgeons

when Matt is more able to cope with a long surgery.

So, that leg's OK.

All we've done with it now

is just closed the wounds so that it's neat and tidy.

Come back and sort it out properly in a little while -

tomorrow, probably.

So, that's held together. There's nothing needed on that.

Regular blood flow is finally returned to Matt's right leg

four hours and ten minutes after the attack,

and there is no major bleeding.

OK. Cool bananas.

Now the team can turn their attention to the left leg.

That's in a much more serious state.

He could still lose this leg.

♪ It's OK to think that way

♪ And my peace, my love My empathy, oh.... ♪

NARRATOR: Six-year-old Charlotte came to hospital

because she had been losing weight

and was feeling weak and nauseous.

Right up, miss!

Mum Teresa was shocked to hear she's suffering from type 1 diabetes.

Now dad, Garry, has arrived

and is struggling to come to terms with the distressing news.

Just that initial shock and...

I was at a job.

I lost it there too. Had to run and sit in the car.

And I thought I could straighten myself up and come up and be good,

which is hard when you see her like that.

She's going to remain quite sick like this overnight,

and gradually, as everything normalises,

hopefully she'll be quite a bit better by the morning.

Oh, she's so gorgeous, isn't she?

For the next five days,

Charlotte will stay in hospital, regaining her strength.

This is Princess Charlotte.

So, we've got her a room with a view. Good.

(NURSES EXCLAIM)

Good job you weigh next to nothing!

Before she can go home,

the whole family will learn the routine

of blood sugar testing and insulin injecting

that will be part of her daily life from now on.

Just a month later, she's transformed into a happy, healthy girl.

Charlotte is back to the ideal weight for a six-year-old.

(SHRIEKS AND SQUEALS)

You can just see it in her face.

She came home from school and said,

"Mummy, Minty said I've got chubby cheeks!"

And I said, "That's a good thing."

Feed them up!

The secret has been a healthy new diet

and three shots of insulin a day, starting first thing in the morning.

She's absolutely starving,

so you're trying to give her the insulin dose really quickly

so that she can move on with her breakfast.

One, two, three, four, five, six...

GARRY: It's simple, and it doesn't take long at all,

but you've gotta do it - you can't miss it.

..nine, ten.

Good girl! You can eat, then.

One slice of toast or two?

One. One?

Now that Charlotte and her family understand her diabetes,

she will go on to lead a long and healthy life.

23-year-old Jemma's double J-sized breasts

give her constant back and shoulder pain.

She's hoping a breast reduction will give her a new lease on life.

They'll now be sitting much more perky, high up on her chest, and -

looking forward...

RAJA: There is significant functional problems

that these patients go through.

That's why these patients come in

wanting to trade big breasts for significant scars.

Once Jemma is asleep,

Raja makes shallow cuts around the lines he marked out

while Jemma was standing up.

When I first watched this operation,

I thought something was going terribly wrong

when I watched the surgeon do this for the first time,

'cause you make all sorts of different cuts on the breast,

and until you actually see it all come back together again,

you think all sorts of different thoughts.

He carefully removes a large section of skin

and the fatty tissue behind it.

Most of the reduction in breast volume comes out in this one piece.

WOMAN: Can we weigh that? WOMAN: Yes.

I think that should be close to 500g, I would have thought.

I was aiming for about 500.

515. (LAUGHS)

I must have done this before.

If the surgery goes to plan,

Jemma's bust will shrink from a double J

to a more manageable double D.

We don't need to take more than that.

I'd rather give her a nice-shaped breast.

You'll see patients come to you and say,

"Look, I want most of it taken off.

"I want you to take me down to an A-cup."

They actually don't mean that. They're just sick of their symptoms.

A fraction more tissue is removed from the slightly larger left breast

to bring the pair into balance.

Around 1.1kg of tissue has been removed from Jemma's bust in total.

Now you can see the puzzle coming back together.

You can see that they are smaller, they are perkier.

A lot more manageable, as well as a nicer shape now,

but these will settle in for her nicely.

When she wakes, Jemma will be keen to see her new breasts,

but it will be a few weeks before they settle into their new shape.

(SIREN YELPS)

WOMAN (PHONE): Ambulance. Are you reporting an emergency?

WOMAN (PHONE): Need some assistance in Surfers Paradise, please.

OK, so, what's happened?

Heavily drug-affected male.

He's been pushing a child in a pram and was shaking the child,

which is approximately 18 months old.

(SIREN WAILS)

WOMAN (RADIO): Man pushing a pram.

6-5-0-8. Roger on case code Z.

After a sickening 000 call,

paramedics Phil and Adele are despatched

to downtown Surfers Paradise to assess a shaken baby.

Looks like an assault to a child, an 18-month-old.

QPS are on the scene with the male offender and the child.

The male might be drug-affected as well,

so, when you've got people on drugs,

sometimes we won't go near these kind of scenes,

but when the call comes from the police,

you know that it's going to be fairly safe there already.

The male offender is the boy's father.

He's been arrested and locked up in the nearby police station.

MAN: This is the baby. Hey. Hello.

There was reports that he was smacking the baby's head.

We might just get him checked out first.

Sure, alright. This is the only patient for us to deal with, though?

Uh... well, look, he's severely drug-affected.

OK.

Believe he's severely drug-affected, so might get him checked as well.

We'll pop you straight in the ambulance.

Hey. How are you? Bit shaken up, eh?

It's been a terrifying ordeal for the boy's mum,

who's been trying to find her son.

Were you with him when all this happened?

No. I only just got to him.

You just got here now. OK. Alrighty.

He's been gone all day.

Alright, how old is he?

He's nearly... 16 months.

I'm just going to have a really good feel...

Any unusual behaviour from the baby

could be a sign of a serious brain injury.

Phil examines every move the little boy makes.

♪ Living my own life

Coincidence? I think not. No. (LAUGHS)

She copped it a fair bit, growing up, from everybody.

She got, "Tits a lovely day."

She couldn't wear bikinis, she couldn't do anything.

I used to use them as my pillows for... yeah, sleep on them.

Yeah, she copped it a fair bit.

Just take a seat on the bed there.

Jemma's plastic surgeon Dr Raja Sawhney

is expecting her to be already feeling the benefits

of a smaller bust.

Even at two weeks, for instance,

they'll come back and you'll say, "Have you still got a lot of pain?"

"Oh, no, actually the pain's better than it was before the operation,"

'cause it's that quick to change and they'll feel relief.

Wow! (LAUGHS)

They're so different. Like, they're so little.

They're not little, but they're little compared...

Oh, they look so good.

So, surgery went well.

We took a fair bit of tissue off from both sides, as you can see.

How do you feel? Yeah, fine.

How's the pain that you had before the operation?

Much better.

The pain from surgery was tolerable,

but it was much better than what I was experiencing

before I had the surgery.

That's very good to hear.

Compared to the pain before, that was much worse,

'cause I couldn't move, I was limited.

Like, I always felt like I had a kink in my neck,

and it was just, like, any time I moved,

it shot pain through, you know, into... like, into my ear

and down my back and into my shoulders, and it was horrible,

and that's been gone since I've had the surgery.

So, I'm really happy. Much more comfortable now.

Although the pain is gone,

Jemma will have to spend a couple more weeks

in the surgical support bra.

That just keeps you comfortable and just holds them in place

while all the sutures and all the scars happening to hold that.

So, we maintain that shape that you've got there,

as you can see, is reasonably good for you.

Yes. They're so perfect now. Good.

They're so good.

Why don't we cover these up? I don't want you getting cold.

(RAJA LAUGHS) They look great.

I feel like I have the boobs that a 23-year-old should have,

not, you know, what I'd had before,

which... I felt like a 40-year-old.

(LAUGHS) So, it's much better now.

A fortnight later,

Jemma's new breasts are ready for a whole new wardrobe.

I need to be fitted. WOMAN: OK.

I had a breast reduction, so I don't really know what size I am now.

Alright, so, we'll just try these different sizes,

just to work out your exact size.

I never used to go bra shopping ever.

I would just, like, get the biggest one off the shelf

and run out the shop - like, I never tried.

Yeah, it just really is a whole new world.

Oh, that looks nice. How does that feel?

Yeah, it feels good. It fits. You've gone down quite a bit.

I just feel like a new person, and I'm loving it.

HOLLY: You've got really good cleavage now.

I know. I'm so jealous!

They're so firm!

I get to be myself, get to do things that I couldn't do before.

(ALL LAUGH)

PHIL: I'm just gonna have a really good feel...

Paramedics are examining a baby boy

who was assaulted by his drug-affected father

during a desperate bid to escape the police.

From what we know from the police

is he was shaking the child and banging its head.

His traumatised mother has spent the day searching for her little boy.

His dad picked him up about 10:30. Yeah, OK.

And... yeah, and he was meant to call me,

'cause I didn't have the phone number and...

Would he be normally with you? Yep.

Like, at home? Yep.

Oooh, what's that? Oooh, hello?

Oh, it's a big white crocodile.

There are no obvious signs of a head injury,

but Phil must be sure the baby boy

has not suffered from some other trauma during his nine-hour ordeal.

OK, I'm just gonna lie him back on your chest

so I can have a look at his tummy,

just in case he was squeezed or anything like that.

I'm gonna have a listen to your chest. Is that alright?

Oooh! Oooh!

He can't say where it hurts,

so Phil must take great care to clear his young patient from injury.

Alrighty, so, everything looks alright.

He's alert, he's breathing well, he's got good colour.

There's no obvious injuries that we can see.

So, it's up to you what you'd like to do.

We can take him up to hospital to have him properly checked over.

He looked fine when I got there, so...

It's just that I need to change his nappy...

When it comes to children, we always recommend that we go to hospital.

From a medical perspective,

they can be observed and properly checked out there.

We've got very limited tools here.

My advice really would be that we go to hospital, have him checked over,

and there may be something going on that we can't see, OK,

which could present later.

Yeah, yeah.

And that could lead to him getting unwell.

Yeah, yeah, OK.

Saying that, it's completely your decision.

Yeah, honestly, he looks fine.

He's happy, he's, like... nothing's wrong with him.

He's, you know... he wasn't crying or didn't look upset.

Didn't have a red face or anything, so...

Phil's advice is falling on deaf ears.

We don't drag people to hospital.

We can't force people to go to hospital,

so we just give our recommendation.

But before Phil can send mum home,

he must be sure she's fit to care for the baby.

NARRATOR: A Gold Coast mum is refusing to take her baby

to hospital for observation

after a violent assault by the boy's father.

Maybe Adele might make you a balloon.

Do you want a balloon animal? Can you do a balloon animal?

Before Phil can release the pair,

he must be sure that the little boy is in safe hands.

You're staying with a friend, so, you've got support?

Yes. And you're safe tonight?

Yes. Yeah, alright, well, you can...

They were keeping me sane, so...

Oh, look at this! Oh!

Any issues with your safety or anything,

you can talk to the police about that, OK?

Well, he's gone to the watch house

and he'll be going straight back to jail anyway, so, doesn't matter.

OK. Alright, so, are you sure you don't want to come to hospital?

I'm sure.

Alrighty.

Are you gonna be OK? You've got your pushchair?

Um, yeah, should be alright.

Alright, I'll just have a chat with the police.

There you go. You take him.

See you, matey.

See you. No worries. All the best.

Like I said, call 000 if anything changes, OK? Excellent.

Might head around the corner.

QAS Bravo 6-5-0-8.

Now proceeding around to QPS Surfers Paradise

to assess the father, who's in custody.

WOMAN (RADIO): 5-1-4, thank you.

PHIL: To see the father in with the police, who did this,

after seeing the child, is probably quite difficult.

Being a father myself, you know, I think... it's definitely...

..you have a personal opinion of what he's done and him as a person,

definitely, before you get there,

but you have to put that aside

and just treat him as another patient and be objective.

It's sad that it's ended with the child being hurt like that,

but I'm glad that the police have become involved

and that he looks like he's going to be dealt with.

There's more on here.

Vascular surgeon Dr Will Butcher is leading a team

trying to save shark attack victim Matt from losing both of his legs.

Alright, are we ready?

On three - one, two, three.

Matt's left leg is in a shocking state.

Now we're going to tackle this leg, which is a much bigger injury,

and the problem with that leg

is that that tourniquet on there has been on for a long time now.

So, the leg is now top priority. He could still lose this leg.

The massive bite was made by a monster shark.

The ordeal Matt has been through is what nightmares are made of.

As the surgeons inspect the gaping wound,

they make a chilling discovery.

MAN: Oh, my goodness. Ahh!

Is that teeth? WOMAN: What is it?

Shark tooth. Eugh!

Preserve that for the patient, please.

The four-metre shark has left a calling card.

The left leg may look unsaveable,

but somehow, just like in the right leg,

the shark missed the main artery

that would have drained Matt's life blood.

The artery is just... right there, sitting in the wound.

You can see it, and it's not injured,

but the vein which is lying right next to it has got a big rent in it.

It would not have taken very much more for those to be badly injured.

He would not have made it.

I'm not sure he would have made it to the beach, to be honest with you.

That's his nerve.

When the team delves deeper into the mangled flesh,

Matt's incredible luck runs out.

Tibial nerve's gone. OK.

Well, I think probably technically sciatic, almost.

WILL: In the left leg behind the knee,

the main nerve going down to the leg is severed,

which means that his leg below the knee will not have sensation

and will not be able to work properly.

Even if Matt's leg can be saved, it will probably be paralysed.

I think that's going to be the defining injury.

WILL: The plastic surgeons will repair it,

but the track record of successful repair

and recovery of function down in the leg is not that good.

We basically join the insulating layer of the nerve together

and hope that the electricity finds its way through.

Oh, mate! Suck that.

What Dr Butcher can repair is the main vein that has been torn open.

So, the trauma registry will tell you

that popliteal vein injuries should be repaired.

Rather than ligated? Rather than ligated.

This vein must be repaired

because it is the main pipeline for blood leaving the leg

and returning to the heart.

I reckon that, barring anything else,

we should take the tourniquet off.

So, can we properly take the tourniquet down, then?

Releasing the tourniquet tests the strength of the stitched-up vein.

There you go! Got a good pulse in it now.

It's a success.

The patch-up job holds

and exposes any other weeping blood vessels that need tying off.

We repaired the popliteal vein.

We repaired it because it was easy to repair,

and now we're just plugging bleeders, basically.

Once the bleeding was under control,

then the surgery was taken over by the two other groups of surgeons

that deal with extensive soft tissue injury,

which are the orthopaedic surgeons and the plastic surgeons.

We're gonna have to open all this bit back up

so we can get to the bone.

No, we're nearly done.

The head of the smaller bone in Matt's lower leg has been bitten off

and will need reconstructing if he's to have any chance of walking again.

The nerves will determine how it goes, I reckon.

Yeah.

The surgeons are shocked that the damage to the bone

is more typical of a high-energy impact, like a car crash.

He's very lucky.

He could easily have died from this.

Once the plastic surgeons have tacked the wounds together

in a temporary close,

Matt is taken to intensive care to rest up.

WILL: This is going to be a long recovery for him.

It's been four hours in surgery,

and for Matt, this is just the beginning.

It's gonna be tough to get back in the water.

I don't... I'm still not sure if I will.

NARRATOR: It's been two weeks,

and shark attack victim Matt Lee has woken from his induced coma.

Sometimes it's hard not to feel sorry for yourself,

but I know I am very lucky to still be here.

I'm a bit down.

That's always the challenge for patients who've had an injury,

is, you know, there's the initial euphoria

of realising that, actually, you're alive, it's OK,

but then there's this sort of... the reality

that you've now got to recover from all of this and get better,

and that sometimes is a long, hard road.

A month later and Matt is starting to feel hope,

with his girlfriend, Suzy, a constant support by his side.

I made a point not to look at my legs when it was all happening.

These are all the scars.

So, I got the staples out probably two weeks ago.

So, this leg's healed up pretty nicely.

Through here, there's probably about 70 or 80 staples

that they had to take out.

And this leg's the one with the nerve damage

and they've got a pressure damage on here

and a foot drop splint to support my foot.

Matt has been incredibly lucky,

but only time will tell if the nerve can regrow

and return movement and feeling.

So, I feel pretty good.

Suzy has been helping him come to terms with the traumatic experience.

He's meant to be here, so... it wasn't his time to go, so...

It's been pretty emotional.

You know, five weeks ago I was running around,

doing whatever I wanted,

and now I can't even... you know, I can...

I've only just started to learn how to stand again,

so, um... I guess that's how I feel unlucky.

But you know, it could be a lot worse as well, so...

He's gonna be fine.

He's gonna get back to his old tricks.

I think it's definitely brought us closer, for sure.

It's made me appreciate our relationship more as well.

Lucky to have her. She's been awesome.

Yeah, I keep telling him I'm not going anywhere. Can't get rid of me.

So, we're in this together.

And the dog. (LAUGHS) Yeah.

That's Penny.

She's been very sooky,

and wanting lots of attention and cuddles and...

She takes up half the bed, so I'm, like, knocked off.

And today it's finally time for Matt to go home

and kick Penny out of the bed.

♪ Everybody's looking for a new horizon

♪ Everybody wants to leave the world behind them

♪ Everybody's looking for a new horizon

♪ Everybody's looking for a second chance

♪ Everybody's wishing they could take a stand

♪ Everybody's looking for a second chance... ♪

MATT: Doctors are happy for me to move on to rehab back home,

so that's some good news.

It's just about building up my muscles again in my legs,

you know, and getting that range of movement back,

and then just hoping the nerves grow

and I can regain movement in my left foot.

Yeah, it's all unknown at the moment,

but I'm trying to stay positive,

and ready to work hard in rehab, and hopefully it works out.

The medical team is hopeful the nerve connections in Matt's leg

will regrow and give him at least partial function

so he can walk again.

Apparently it grows 1mm a day,

so it's going to be a long... long process to see if it comes back.

(ALL CHEER)

Matt knows he's lucky to be here, but for now...

Thanks, everyone. ..it's one step at a time.

Good luck, eh? See you.

See you!

Didn't expect that. That was nice. (LAUGHS)

Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media. tv

Next week on Gold Coast Medical,

brain surgery results in a miracle right before your eyes.

We've got this very narrow window of opportunity

where we can go in and keep that side of the brain alive.

And the patient is wide awake.

Keep very still for us. Do not move at all. This is going to hurt.

A young girl struck down by a mystery illness.

It's coming from my brain, and that's the scary part.

Scary moments during a water birth...

(CRIES OUT)

..when a newborn plays a game of hide-and-seek.

He's under there somewhere, lovely.

And Bruce needs to brush up on his carpentry skills.

Putting some wood together. Bang, bang, bang.

And then... yeah, nailed it in.