Mother recounts horrifying moment her baby went limp

As the helicopter thundered toward the hospital, Mel Roborgh stared at her newborn baby, her skin now an ashy, grey colour, convinced she was dying. 

It had been every parent’s worst nightmare, as Mel desperately tried to keep her eight-week-old baby, Iris, alive before paramedics arrived on that haunting morning in December 2017. 

Mel, who teaches at Hanmer Springs School remembers that morning vividly nearly ten years on. She had gotten up early to check on baby Iris, noting she hadn’t heard her crying. She was running a bit of a temperature, but it was nothing major, Mel thought. 

The morning played out as normal with Mel’s husband Robbie going out to do some work on the Leslie Hills farm where they lived, just north of Culverden, taking their two-year-old daughter with him. 

While nothing appeared to be wrong with Iris, Mel couldn’t shake the feeling that something seemed off. 

“I decided to call the Healthline. I was telling myself that I was probably overreacting and that she was fine, but I wanted to call to be sure,” Mel said. 

“While I was on the phone to the Healthline staff, Iris’s breathing went a bit funny, she was almost making a bit of a grunting noise so I put her mouth up to the phone so the staff could hear, and they called for an ambulance.” 

Mel got transferred to a call with the ambulance staff who were giving her updates on where the ambulance was when Iris began to quickly deteriorate. 

“At that point she just went floppy in my arms, it was horrible,” Mel said. 

“The ambulance man on the phone took complete control and talked me through what to do. He was telling me to put her on a flat surface and listen to her breathing. She hadn’t stopped breathing, but she sounded like she was struggling.” 

The ambulance arrived within 15 minutes and almost immediately made the decision to call for a helicopter. 

“I just felt sick, I had no idea what was going on with my baby,” Mel said. 

Within 24 minutes, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed right next to Mel’s house and ten minutes later, Iris was loaded into the chopper and hooked up to oxygen and heart monitoring machines. 

“The helicopter paramedics just came in and took complete control and the absolute relief when they do, I just can’t even put it into words.” 

Mel described the helicopter ride as a whirlwind but remembers looking over at her baby hooked up to various machines and thinking the worst-case scenario. 

“I was just looking at her, and she was almost a grey, ashy colour, she just looked terrible. It was really scary. I thought she was going to die.” 

Within 25 minutes they arrived at the hospital and Iris was whisked away for more tests. 

“She had become listless and wasn’t crying or fussing when hospital staff were checking her over and running tests, which is something you’d expect from a baby,” Mel said. 

It turns out, Iris had a grade five kidney reflux and was suffering from a kidney infection that had travelled from her bladder into her kidneys and then progressed into her bloodstream.  

After spending ten days in hospital on an IV drip, Iris was finally able to go home.  

Mel praised both the ambulance and helicopter paramedics who helped her remain calm and talked her through everything they were doing to help save her daughter. 

“The relief was immense when the chopper turned up. They just took the panic out of the situation,” Mel said. 

“I was still terrified, but they helped me to stay grounded and were very good at talking me through each step like explaining the heart rate monitor patterns while we were in the chopper.” 

Mel was excited to attend Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa’s Night for Flight event and stressed how important it was to recognise the lifesaving role that Westpac Rescue Helicopters play in the community. 

“Living rurally, you’re sort of isolated from town and not close to hospitals or major health facilities so it’s really important to know that somebody is going to come and be there for you and help you,” she said. 

“Without the Westpac Rescue Helicopters, the outcome for our daughter could have been very different so we’re really grateful to them for saving our girl.”