Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 21 December last year, my three-year-old son became ill. After a fall, he began vomiting, and it soon became serious enough that my wife took him to the emergency room. He stayed in hospital for three days until the doctors finally worked out that he had septicaemia and began to administer the right drugs. On Christmas Eve, when we had almost resigned ourselves to bringing the presents and the tree to him, the doctors decided that he was ready to be discharged, and we went home together.

I want to thank the nurses, doctors and other hospital staff who took such good care of Sebastian while he was in hospital. He was originally admitted to Calvary Hospital, where he received careful attention before being transferred to paediatric health services at Canberra Hospital, also known as PatCH. The emergency and paediatric teams at both hospitals were diligent in their care and took time to explain what was going on to my wife, Gweneth, and me. My son still talks about his ambulance ride and his CAT scan, which he calls ‘sitting in the doughnut’. Behind the scenes, there were the laboratory technicians we never met but whose work underpinned the diagnosis that the doctors eventually provided.

Alongside excellent medical care, we are also grateful for the children’s play facility provided by the Starlight Foundation. Walking into their playroom, we were greeted by a smiling young woman in a space traveller outfit who insisted on being called Captain Crazy at all times. Having a facility like this was a blessing, because there are only so many times as a parent that you can read The Gruffalo before wanting to turn into a small brown mouse.

Being a parent in hospital reminds of your vulnerability—sleeping in an armchair, eating from a vending machine and drinking endless cups of instant coffee in styrofoam cups. There is something that feels viscerally wrong about seeing a child hooked up to an intravenous drip, but all you can do is wait and hold his hand while he drifts back to sleep and the drugs steadily do their work.

In a recent issue, the Economist’s Bagehot column pondered the impact of young children on politicians:

Daily exposure to innocence matters. Parenthood can lead to smugness, but also humility. All parents soon realise how much of child-rearing is improvisation, tempered by exhaustion ... The world looks at once kindlier and more fragile with small children in it, and essentially optimistic.

Thank you to those health workers who each day look after young boys and girls like my son. From Captain Crazy to the head of neurosurgery, you make an extraordinary team.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! In accordance with standing order 193 the time for constituency statements has concluded.