Only a couple of times in my 77 years have I had what might be called “a spiritual experience”.
One such time was in Dachau the one time concentration camp in Nazi Germany. We were contemplating in the garden of ashes when a solitary bell began to toll and the lilting voices of nuns singing “Ave Maria”floated across the otherwise silent evening. It was a thought provoking experience but nothing compared to what happened to us in Broome WA on Tuesday 24th March 2015.
Some people would dismiss the happening as co-incidence or chance, but neither Dorene nor I can accept that. Others who were present were also visibly shaken.
The events leading up to it began in 1990 when I took our 19 year –olddaughter, Michelle on an adventure holiday to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo. For her, it was a trip of a lifetime, taking in the Oran-utanrehabilitation centre, Turtle Island, Sandakan death camp, jungle kampongs, bird nest harvesting in caves and culminating in a climb of Mount Kinabalu. Two days later we flew back to Malaya and began a drive around the peninsular.
A week later despite having taken our Chloroquin as prescribed Michelle and I came down with malaria. Diagnosis took a day or two and when it came it was very bad news we had both Plasmodium Vivax and Plasmodium Falsiparum the later being the deadly form of malaria apparently both of these had developed a resistance to Chloroquin.
My sister -in-law Chris was traveling with us and contacted Emergency Assist by phone and they quickly arranged an air ambulance evacuation to Singapore for specialist treatment in ICU.
Two days later I was out of danger and able to assess our situation, Chris flew home to help Dorene (my wife), Michelle was in dire straits and our one million dollar medical insurance was more than two thirds gone.
That was when a kind and understanding lady rang me from Emergency Assist. Every day for the next month sometimes three times per day she would ring me and help us through the barriers of language and foreign law, medical terms and negotiations.
Without her support I am sure I would have done something regrettable. We had run out of insurance, we were clocking up ten thousand dollars per day for ICU plus surgical procedures to keep our baby alive, we were trying to get Qantas to fly us home. Mt Elizabeth hospital said they would not let Michelle out until the outstanding bill was paid about Ten thousand dollars.
I was ready to kill someone. Dorene had started to negotiate to sell the family home when the gentle voice of my lady came over the phone to tell me she had arranged for two intensivists to fly from Australia to take us home.
For the next few days she took over everything. She was my guardian angel. On the final day she and her husband came to the hospital and bundled me into a wheelchair they saw me onto the plane with our kid strapped to a stretcher and intubated taking up two rows of seats.
To my everlasting shame I do not know if I thanked them and I don’t think I even asked their names my grief was no excuse.
Michelle passed away a month after getting back home.
Twenty-five years later Dorene and I decided to do something about the killer of our girl. With the help of our Rotary club Williamtown we embarked on a Motorbike ride around Australia to raise funds to fight Malaria.
We started off from our little town of Medowie near Newcastle and headed North stopping at major towns en-route. Coffs Harbour, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin and so on to Broome WA.
My Rotary contact in that town was Martin Briggs, he was organizingour accommodation and a BBQ so when we arrived at the designated caravan park we were met by him and his wife Heather. We were having a brief get to know you chat when Heather remarked that she knew a bit about malaria as a GP and that she had had an experience with an Australian girl and her Dad in Malaysia many years ago.
I knew in that instant that she was my “guardian angel” of so long ago.
Later that evening over a glass of wine I confirmed what I already knew in my heart.
Think of the odds, twenty-five years ago Heather was a young English GP working for Insurance Companies in Singapore and Malaysia where she helped us. Years later she decided to migrate to Australia. And after more time settled in Broome and joined Rotary. We after twenty-five years decided to fight malaria through Rotary and chose to include Broome in our itinerary etc. etc.
For us this not a coincidence it is far too meaningful for that. We are satisfied that something greater than us has extended a hand to us and allowed us to say a belated thank you to our guardian angel.
Steve Carroll
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