Laura Leaf, a rescued koala, was the last surgery of the day at Currumbin wildlife hospital, just hours before its doors were due to close to ride out Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
But after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery on Wednesday, Laura Leaf needed round-the-clock care – and the Gold Coast hospital’s intensive care unit was about to be shut.
Step forward Mallory Wilson, a nursing supervisor at the hospital who offered up a spare room in her Nerang home to be turned into a life-saving make-shift ICU.
“It’s a bit of a downgrade at my house but at least I could get her out of the elements,” Wilson said.
Many non-urgent patients at the hospital were sent out to volunteer carers in the community, many part of the charity Wildcare Australia, to stay out of the cyclonic winds and torrential rains.
Likely suffering from the knock-on effects of the disease chlamydia, Laura Leaf had been brought to the not-for-profit hospital by rescue organisation Wires after being found on the ground in the Gold Coast hinterland area of Guanaba.
Laura Leaf, who also had a sick possum for company in the same spare room, spent three nights in Wilson’s home.
Wilson kept up with Laura Leaf’s pain medication and intravenous fluids but also kept the koala freshly supplied with eucalypt leaves.
“I was checking in on her every few hours and was talking to the vets,” she said. “We did lose power for a couple of hours but the fluid pumps held their charge, and we did have a back-up plan.”
Dr Michael Pyne, senior veterinarian at the hospital, said: “We knew [Laura Leaf] wouldn’t make it without round-the-clock care. When you work in wildlife medicine, you do whatever it takes. She had major intestinal issues and we needed to monitor her closely.”
Laura Leaf and the possum were admitted back to the hospital on Saturday and are recovering well but a flood of new arrivals have started to come in after Cyclone Alfred skirted the region.
More than 50 animals, including birds, possums and turtles, have already been admitted and, with many more expected in the coming days, the hospital has launched an emergency appeal.
“Freshwater turtles, seabirds and other displaced animals will need our help in the coming days,” Pyne said.
The hospital asked the public to bring injured wildlife directly to the hospital if it was safe but said people should never approach snakes or flying foxes and should avoid putting themselves at risk when helping animals.
