Tauranga man Talifolau Veikoso recalls the moment he nearly died while training on a rugby field and the subsequent heart attack he had while in hospital afterwards. The father of seven is alive today because of a heart transplant, and he shares his story to highlight the importance of organ donation.
Talifolau Veikoso loves his rugby, family and life in general. The latter especially so.
The Tauranga father of seven has had at least five heart attacks that he knows of. The damage done by the last not only sent him into a coma but meant he was plugged into to an electronic device helping to pump his heart for nearly a year.
At night, the 39-year-old was plugged into the wall, in the car he was plugged into the cigarette lighter and he always carried battery packs with him wherever he went.
Today, the Tauranga man is in Auckland getting a medical check-up, three years after surviving a heart transplant.
In February 2015, Veikoso was training at the local rugby field with his two older sons when he noticed he was feeling "different".
"When we started warming up, I thought 'that's not normal'. I felt like I couldn't breathe, it was too hard. Every time I breathed felt like it was burning.
"Then it felt like I was on a ship (rocking) ... when I looked in the sky, it looked like the cloud was black and coming towards me."
Veikoso was rushed to Tauranga Hospital before being transferred to Waikato Hospital. Several weeks later he returned to Tauranga Hospital but while preparing to head home the next morning, he suffered another attack and was put into an induced coma.
Wife Anthea Veikoso said it was "touch and go" for a while but her husband was a fighter.
Talifolau Veikoso is loving life now he has a new heart. Photo / George Novak
Doctors told the Veikosos if it wasn't for his fitness and strength, the Port of Tauranga crane operator would have died a long time ago. There was only so much his exhausted heart could take. He was put on the transplant waiting list.
Veikoso admits he was scared of the surgery; "That I might wake up and not know my family".
But after a year of living plugged in and in limbo, the couple got the call to get to Auckland. A donor had been found.
"I got a second chance. I just said to God 'give me another chance to see my kids grow'.
Veikoso has seven children ranging in ages from 4 to 21. His youngest is a physical reminder of his journey.
"When she was three months, that's when we went to hospital. She's pretty much lived in the hospital most of her life."
After recovery time in the hospital, Veikoso was able to come home in time for Christmas, 10 months after that first heart attack on the rugby field.
"My whole body was so weak but it was worth it, just to come home and spend Christmas with my family. It was probably the best Christmas ever."
These days Veikoso is back at work and playing rugby and training like he used to, although he can no longer go for a run by himself. He also avoids direct sunlight and crowds due to his weakened immune system. But his life is rich, he said.
Veikoso said organ donation was incredibly important because "without that, I wouldn't be here".
"It's the best gift anyone can have."
Why is organ donation important?
Tauranga Hospital ICU/CCU clinical nurse manager Chris Southerwood recommends people to have the conversation about organ donation.
"It is so important. Donation makes a difference. It offers valuable second chances and dramatically changes lives."
Southerwood said having that conversation could enable family members to know what to do in the event of someone's death.
• People of all ages need organ and tissue transplants and a transplant can mean the difference between life and death. • One donor has the potential to transform the lives of up to ten people through the donation of organs (heart, lungs, liver, kidney and pancreas) and tissues (eye tissue, heart valves and skin). • Organ donation is only possible when a person is on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, usually with devastating brain damage. Fewer than 1 per cent of deaths happen this way. Tissue donation is possible in most circumstances when people die. • In 2017, 73 organ donors and their families helped save 215 people needing transplants. Many more people received tissue transplants from these donors.
