A Current Affair Melting Man

Speakers:

Mr Martin King, Current Affair Journalist

Mr Alan Byrne

Mrs Bernadette Byrne, Mother

Mr Des Byrne, Father

Mrs Karen Simpson, Lawyer, Slater & Gordon

Dr Andrew Heggie, Associate Professor, Facial Surgeon

Martin King: Hey mate, how are you going?

Alan Byrne: Good.

Martin King: Can you stand up?

Alan Byrne: Yeah.

Martin King: Want to have a crack? Do you want me  to – are you right?

Alan Byrne: I'm right.

Martin King: Good man.

Alan Byrne: Okay.

Martin King: How does that feel?

Alan Byrne: Good.

Bernadette Byrne: Alan was always a great worker,  always. He had rung me the weekend before and said "Mum I'm working really  hard".

Martin King: What is your memory of that day in  Queensland?

Alan Byrne: Oh God, none.

Martin King: No memory at all?

Alan Byrne: No.

Martin King: Who would want to remember? On a  stinking hot Queensland day Alan Byrne almost worked himself to death. He can't  remember because he's brain damaged from heat stroke.

Bernadette Byrne: Alan's been through everything you  could imagine, from being in a coma, on death's doorstep, to now going through  a process of rehabilitation to get his life back.

Des Byrne: G'day Alan, how are you?

Alan Byrne: Good.

Bernadette Byrne: What are we watching today?

Des Byrne: These soapies again.

Martin King: The days of Alan's life are so  different now. The big, strong brickie's labourer is back in Melbourne with his  parents, Des and Bernadette. What is it like for you two to see  your son like this?

Bernadette Byrne: Oh, it's heartbreaking, it's  heartbreaking, because we know what he was like and we want him back that way,  but we can't.

Martin King: What happened that day on a building  site is a warning to all of us about the dangers of heat stroke. It was 42  degrees. Alan had been working in the full sun all day. He hadn't had enough  water, he hadn't had any food, he wasn't wearing a hat. At 3:00 o'clock in the  afternoon he started feeling sick and began walking home, five kilometres. He  didn't make it. He was found unconscious at a roundabout by a bus driver, who  called police.

Bernadette Byrne: This is in Queensland.  Said he's critically ill, you need to get here. But don't come here, go to  Townsville because we're airlifting him because he's critically ill. We just  went into panic, we were all just shaking and crying.

Martin King: When Des and Bernadette arrived at  Townsville Hospital their son was in a coma.

Bernadette Byrne: It hit us, didn't it?

Des Byrne: Yeah.

Bernadette Byrne: We saw our son there, dying really.  They told us he was dying. On total life support, total life support. There  wasn't one part of his body that wasn't on some machine.

Martin King: Tell me what happened to your son's  body.

Bernadette Byrne: It completely shut down, everything  shut down. His body, well, it boiled, it boiled. Even they told us the bone  marrow boiled. It was so overheated. His body temperature was 42 degrees,  that's why he couldn't – they said he wouldn't live.

Karen Simpson: In Alan's case the employer has  failed to ensure that he was adequately hydrated and protected from such  extreme conditions.

Martin King: Karen Simpson from Slater &  Gordon in Brisbane is Alan's lawyer. His case is now one of Australia's biggest  WorkCover claims.

Karen Simpson: It's certainly a catastrophic sized  claim. Because of the lack of residual earning capacity for Alan, it will  result in very significant monetary compensation for him.

Des Byrne: One of the surgeons said "You don't  know it's happening to you until someone comes up behind you with a baseball  bat and goes whack, and that's it and you're down".

Martin King: It was the capable hands  of doctors in Townsville that saved Alan's life, but then a shocking complication.  He lost blood supply to his face and his facial bones began to dissolve.

Dr Andrew Heggie: Absolutely unusual, quite unique.

Martin King: Dr Andrew Heggie specialises in  facial surgery.

Dr Andrew Heggie: The three major components have been  replaced. There's the bone from the hip to replace the upper jaw. A rib graft  to reconstruct the nasal bridge and the contour. Then subsequently these  titanium implants so that a full bridge can be made to reconstruct his jaw and  bite.

Martin King: What is the one thing you would like  to do with your body?

Alan Byrne: Walk.

Martin King: Walk. Alan's legs are strong and  capable, it's the brain damage that's the problem.   What are your hopes for the future?

Alan Byrne: Work.

Martin King: What would you like to do for work?

Alan Byrne: Anything.

Martin King: Just anything? If you  can't work you might as well work out. Or go shooting. Or sailing. What is Alan's future?

Bernadette Byrne: Who knows? You've got to leave all  the doors open. Who knows? He's still our son and he's still absolutely  beautiful.

~ The End ~

Run time: 4:36