In short:
Former Olympic coach Patrick Gemzik's family says he has been left with permanent eye and brain damage after waiting 36 hours for emergency surgery to remove a tumour.
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he → say → tumour
Mr Gemzik's mother said he was ramped at the Princess Alexandra Hospital for four hours, where he suffered several seizures.
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he → say → seizures
Health Minister Tim Nicholls told parliament the matter had been dealt with "appropriately and compassionately" by the Queensland Ambulance Service and Metro South.
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matter → tell → Service
Queensland's health minister has defended medical care given to a former Olympic skateboarding coach who sustained irreversible brain and eyesight damage in a 36-hour ordeal.
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who → defend → ordeal
Patrick Gemsik received emergency surgery for a brain tumour in March, but his family said permanent damage was caused by delays to his treatment.
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damage → receive → treatment
The Labor opposition questioned the government over the care the 38-year-old received in state parliament, questioning what, if any, reviews had been conducted, or if an apology would be offered.
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apology → question → parliament
Health Minister Tim Nicholls told parliament the matter had been dealt with "appropriately" and "compassionately".
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matter → tell → parliament
Speaking outside the House, Mr Gemsik's mother Gayle, a former registered nurse, said she watched her son continuously deteriorate while her concerns fell on deaf ears.
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concerns → speak → ears
"We watched Patrick die before our eyes," she said.
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she → watch → eyes
"Patrick had a massive seizure.
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Patrick → have → seizure
He stopped breathing and had to be resuscitated.
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He → stop → ?
"At this stage, from the time we had rung the ambulance, till the time Patrick had emergency surgery, it was 36 hours.
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it → ring → surgery
"Now, that need not have happened."
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that → happen → ?
Ms Gemsik called an ambulance for her son after he had a headache and sensitivity to light.
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he → call → light
They waited four hours for an ambulance that never came before driving her son to Redlands Hospital.
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that → wait → Hospital
It was 16 hours before a CT scan was undertaken, despite what she said were clear neurological symptoms.
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she → undertake → ?
Ms Gemsik said Redlands Hospital called the Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital for a transfer after discovering a brain tumour, with staff told there were no beds for him.
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staff → say → him
Despite that, he was transferred to the PA, where he was ramped for four hours and suffered several seizures.
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he → transfer → seizures
A day and a half after the first ambulance call, Ms Gemsik said her son received emergency surgery to remove part of the tumour.
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son → say → tumour
'Memory got deleted'
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Memory → delete → ?
Patrick Gemsik, speaking outside parliament, said he had serious brain damage and eyesight issues.
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he → speak → damage
Ability to recognise things is challenging," he said.
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he → recognise → things
"My memory got deleted four months before the incident, and months after, short-term memory is pretty gone."
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memory → delete → incident
Ms Gemsik said she was considering legal action, and despite contacting them, had heard nothing from Metro South Health, nor had any meeting with anyone from the government.
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she → say → government
Appropriate care given
The opposition used most of parliament's Question Time to grill Mr Nicholls on Mr Gemsik's medical care.
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opposition → give → care
Mr Nicholls, who at first was not familiar with the story, later clarified the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) and Metro South had made contact with the family to discuss the issue.
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Service → clarify → issue
"This matter has been dealt with appropriately, compassionately by both the QAS and by Metro South," Mr Nicholls told parliament.
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Nicholls → deal → parliament
"And we seek to learn at all times.
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we → seek → times
And if the care provided was not up to standard and the family feel that, then of course we seek to do better every time."
Standing with the Gemsik's outside parliament, Opposition Leader Steven Miles said they were the faces of a strained health system.
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they → provide → system
"Our emergency departments are being forced to prioritise KPIs over patient care.
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departments → force → care
It is a harrowing story of Patrick being passed like a hot potato for 36 hours.
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Patrick → pass → hours
It should never have happened."
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It → happen → ?
A Metro South spokesperson denied there was any delay to surgery.
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spokesperson → deny → surgery
"The patient was seen by a medical officer on arrival at the PA Hospital," they said.
"
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they → see → Hospital
An inter-hospital transfer was undertaken and the patient was under close clinical supervision by paramedics, ED clinicians, and specialist staff.
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patient → undertake → paramedics
We take all concerns extremely seriously and clinicians review care to identify opportunities to improve.
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clinicians → take → opportunities
The spokesperson said the matter was being reviewed by the Office of the Health Ombudsman and that it would be "inappropriate to comment further".
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it → say → Ombudsman
The Aporia