A Queensland paramedic has received what he described as the “highest honour” after discovering a woman had named her baby after him, years after he helped save her grandmother’s life.
Tia was 16 when she watched her grandmother, Margaret, collapse at her home in Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast in 2014. She called triple-0, and paramedics rushed to treat Margaret after she went into cardiac arrest. One of them was Hugo Evison.
Margaret, who was 70 at the time, survived the medical emergency and the surgeries that followed. Evison later visited her in hospital and was delighted to see her recovering, believing that was the end of the story.
Then, several weeks ago, an email arrived at work.
“It was a very generic email saying, ‘Do you remember this job 12 years ago?’,” Evison said.
“I’m like, ‘Absolutely not. I need some more info please’.”
After being given the case number and details from the callout, the memory quickly came back.
“After that, I remembered it straight away because it was a very challenging case to manage,” Evison said.
He recalled arriving at Margaret’s home and immediately realising how serious her condition was.
“She had a cardiac arrest and then she had what we call CPR-induced consciousness, which is something we don’t see a lot of,” he said.
CPR-induced consciousness is a rare phenomenon in which CPR creates enough blood flow to the brain for a person to show signs of awareness, even though their heart has stopped.
“(Margaret) was actively pushing me off and, you know, fighting me, even though she was still in arrest,” Evison said.
“Her case was definitely the most intense CPR-induced consciousness I’ve ever seen.”
He also remembered Tia staying by her grandmother’s side and travelling with her in the ambulance.
“That’s a terribly traumatic experience for a 16-year-old, to watch your grandmother go into cardiac arrest,” he said.
“In this job, you know, nothing really good ever happens in the back of an ambulance.
“We’re associated with a lot of terrible trauma, we’re sharing a moment with someone … and it’s often the worst moment of their life.”
A few weeks after the emergency, Evison checked in on Margaret at hospital.
“She was awake, talking to me and I was like, ‘This is great, this is fantastic’,” he said.
“And that’s, you know, where it kind of got left.”
But the story did not end there. Twelve years later, Evison learned Tia had never forgotten him. She had named her baby boy Hugo.
“It’s an amazing honour, that’s for certain, I mean, what an honour to have a child named after you,” Evison said.
“It was very special.”
On Monday, Evison reunited with Margaret and Tia and met baby Hugo at Southport Ambulance Station.
“To see Margaret and her family, and then to listen to Tia talk about the moments they’ve been able to share together, you know, because she survived that event — it’s pretty moving,” he said.
“And then to have a child end up here is actually really wild.
“I’ve been doing the job for 21 years and it’s easy to sometimes lose a bit of perspective.
“And then to have that brought home, the massive impact you had on someone’s life.
“To have such a great outcome, and story like this, is fantastic.
“I’m very glad they reached out to share that moment with me. It’s a real honour, I felt very special to be part of their family.”
The emotional reunion also prompted another former patient to contact him after seeing the story shared online.
“She reached out and said, ‘You saved my life four years ago and I saw this story, thank you, I was thinking about you all this time’,” Evison said.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy!’ — it’s very rewarding.
“That makes the difficult part of the job a little bit easier, I guess, when you have moments like this.”
