Local man’s dice with death
Local man’s dice with death
April 17, 2008
Section: News, Community
On March 9 local man Robert Luchitti went fishing with his son.
Two days later he was in a coma, close to death.
The 31-year-old Horsley man, whose eight-year old son Brodie plays for the Woonona-Bulli Junior Rugby League Club, went to hospital with a severe asthma attack early on the morning of March 11.
By that afternoon his airways had shut down completely and he was airlifted to St George Hospital in Sydney.
Upon her arrival his wife Lindsay, who gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Olivia just 14 months ago, was told by doctors that they were fighting to keep her husband alive.
Mr Luchitti had been put into a coma and had to be fed oxygen to keep his brain and heart functioning.
The stress of the ordeal caused his kidneys to temporarily fail.
At one point staff began to counsel Ms Luchitti that her husband might soon pass away.
Eventually doctors found the right medication and Mr Luchitti started to recover, waking up on March 22.
At first he was in a daze, trying to determine reality from stressful hallucinations he experienced while unconscious.
It was only then that he realised how close he had come to death and could see the anguish his family had been living through.
The attack may have been a reaction to sand fly bites Mr Luchitti obtained while fishing two days before his attack, the family was told.
From a hospital bed in Wollongong last week, Mr Luchitti said he was astounded by how much danger his life was in.
“The biggest thing is how close I came to death,” he said.
“I could have easily not been here.”
Mr Luchitti’s condition will leave him unable to work for up to six months, leaving his family in dire straights financially.
Friends of the family from the Woonona-Bulli Junior Rugby League Football Club have organised a fundraising night of games and fun to be held at Wollongong TAFE on May 17 starting at 6.30pm.
The cost is $20 per head and organisers are asking for donations of prizes or money to assist the Luchittis.
For more information, please contact Nicole on 0423 220 274.