Bradford Bulls medics may have saved Purtell's life (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Bradford Bulls medics may have saved Adrian Purtell's life
7:00am Wednesday 30th May 2012 in Bulls
Exclusive By Ross Heppenstall, Bradford Bulls Reporter
Adrian Purtell is expected to be released from Leeds General Infirmary today after having an operation to remove a blockage from an artery
Adrian Purtell’s expert and swift treatment at the hands of the Bulls’ club doctor and medical staff could have saved his life.
It was confirmed yesterday that the Australian centre, 27, had suffered a heart attack in the aftermath of Sunday’s Magic Weekend encounter against Leeds at the Etihad Stadium.
Purtell, who played the full 80 minutes of the energy-sapping 37-22 defeat in searing heat, initially complained of feeling unwell shortly after the game and began to suffer chest pains.
As his condition worsened during the journey back to Bradford, the club’s medical staff – Dr Donald Young, physio Jamie Moseley and head of conditioning Geoff Evans – gave Purtell oxygen and put him on a drip before diverting the team coach to accident and emergency at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
The close-season signing from Penrith was transferred to the Coronary Care Unit at Leeds General Infirmary later that evening, where he underwent an immediate primary angioplasty to remove a blockage in his artery.
As he begins a lengthy recovery process, the importance of the initial treatment he received by Dr Donald Young can be revealed. Dr Young, a full-time GP at the Rooley Lane Medical Centre, oversees the Bulls’ medical care at every home and away game.
Any heart problem puts your life at risk and I think everything we did – the supportive measures that we undertook in the right order and at the right time before getting him to A and E – effectively saved his life and have given him the best chance of a good recovery
Dr Donald Young
He told the T&A: “After the game, Adrian initially felt very sick but with that came this chest pain and his condition worsened on the coach.
“I began treating him and we put him on a drip for fluid support and had him on oxygen but by the time we had crossed the Pennines he had deteriorated too far.
“I thought ‘I can’t take this risk anymore, he needs hospital supervision’, so we diverted to A and E at Huddersfield.
“Any heart problem puts your life at risk and I think everything we did – the supportive measures that we undertook in the right order and at the right time before getting him to A and E – effectively saved his life and have given him the best chance of a good recovery.”
Dr Young was with Purtell every step of the way as he explained: “The first thing they did when we got to Huddersfield was to put the ECG (Electrocardiogram) on to trace Adrian’s heart.
“The paramedics were there along with one of the sisters from A and E along with myself and Jamie Moseley.
“We just looked at the monitor in shock because it clearly showed that Adrian was having a heart attack.
“The pain that he was having started affecting his pulse and his breathing, and were signs that his heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen.
“Putting him on oxygen on the coach definitely helped Adrian and from Huddersfield I accompanied him in an ambulance to Leeds, which is where he received the definitive treatment he needed. Until he got to Leeds he was still effectively unstable.
“When we got there they put him straight into where they do the angioplasty. That procedure was just short of two hours.
“It’s technically called an invasive procedure and, while it’s not open-heart surgery, it involves some very skilful work to remove the clot and if there is any part of the artery that needs to be widened they can do that from the inside.”
Purtell last night tweeted that he could be released from the LGI today but it is not clear when he might be expected to return to full fitness or play again.
He has been undergoing tests to ascertain the root cause of the heart attack but Dr Young believes it could be attributed to a number of factors.
Purtell, who has been joined in Leeds by his parents, was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in the middle of 2007.
Purtell said yesterday: “I have read all the messages and would like to thank everyone for their concern. The response from the rugby league community has been overwhelming and I appreciate everyone’s kind thoughts.”
Comments(23)
flashdonut
says...
7:39am Wed 30 May 12
Sheffieldbull wrote:Here here.
Scary stuff! Well done Doc and the rest of the medical crew - take a bow. Adrian, get well soon and if you are able to resume your rugby career, lets hope its with the Bulls. Good luck mate.
helenshep
says...
7:43am Wed 30 May 12
flashdonut wrote:Here here, best wishes Adrian, hope to see you back at Odsal soon,
Sheffieldbull wrote:Here here.
Scary stuff! Well done Doc and the rest of the medical crew - take a bow. Adrian, get well soon and if you are able to resume your rugby career, lets hope its with the Bulls. Good luck mate.
Potter for the sack
says...
7:48am Wed 30 May 12
barbarian mike
says...
8:20am Wed 30 May 12
Hats off to the medical staff, they deserve some serious credit for what they have done and how they responded at the time!
murphyslaw
says...
9:34am Wed 30 May 12
Sheffieldbull
says...
10:11am Wed 30 May 12
murphyslaw wrote:I think you'll find the content of this article very different from the others murphyslaw, but then, you need to moan about something don't you.? Bet Mr Purtell is more positive than you squire, after all thats what this article is about.
We all wish Adrian well and that he has a speedy transition to full recovery. This is the fourth story the T&A have run on this and all simply reiterate the previous one. Adrian needs to be left alone with his family now in order to relax fully and we should all be being fed news of what's happening at the club. As far as I'm aware the club indicated that the 'review' would be speedy and some conclusions were to be available by the middle of last week. It is amazing that in such a crisis and having taken such a huge chunk of fans money the club remain silent especially as the RFL have blocked them from doing any deals with players until finances are resolved.
Wots up
says...
11:47am Wed 30 May 12
Sheffieldbull wrote:That may be the case but it is a concern that this review is taking so long. Now over 3 weeks since Hood resigned and little has come from the new board. Doesn't give me much confidence.
murphyslaw wrote:I think you'll find the content of this article very different from the others murphyslaw, but then, you need to moan about something don't you.? Bet Mr Purtell is more positive than you squire, after all thats what this article is about.
We all wish Adrian well and that he has a speedy transition to full recovery. This is the fourth story the T&A have run on this and all simply reiterate the previous one. Adrian needs to be left alone with his family now in order to relax fully and we should all be being fed news of what's happening at the club. As far as I'm aware the club indicated that the 'review' would be speedy and some conclusions were to be available by the middle of last week. It is amazing that in such a crisis and having taken such a huge chunk of fans money the club remain silent especially as the RFL have blocked them from doing any deals with players until finances are resolved.
Tell_Titus
says...
1:42pm Wed 30 May 12
Along with Purtell we now have Diskin and Kopczak out, possibly for the rest of the season, Kear and Walker for two months- all from the Leeds game. That's a lot from one game!
Liamk7978
says...
1:45pm Wed 30 May 12
barbarian mike
says...
1:47pm Wed 30 May 12
murphyslaw
says...
2:41pm Wed 30 May 12
Wots up wrote:It's NOT the case 'wots up' this is the fourth article on this subject and is nothing but the usual press sensationlism. Sheff likes to insult people usually at the expense of totally missing the serious point. Having begged money from us surely we have a right to at least hear something about the clubs plight. It seems the misfortune of Purtell is being used as an excuse for not reporting other issues.
Sheffieldbull wrote:That may be the case but it is a concern that this review is taking so long. Now over 3 weeks since Hood resigned and little has come from the new board. Doesn't give me much confidence.
murphyslaw wrote:I think you'll find the content of this article very different from the others murphyslaw, but then, you need to moan about something don't you.? Bet Mr Purtell is more positive than you squire, after all thats what this article is about.
We all wish Adrian well and that he has a speedy transition to full recovery. This is the fourth story the T&A have run on this and all simply reiterate the previous one. Adrian needs to be left alone with his family now in order to relax fully and we should all be being fed news of what's happening at the club. As far as I'm aware the club indicated that the 'review' would be speedy and some conclusions were to be available by the middle of last week. It is amazing that in such a crisis and having taken such a huge chunk of fans money the club remain silent especially as the RFL have blocked them from doing any deals with players until finances are resolved.
bullslad17
says...
3:00pm Wed 30 May 12
barbarian mike wrote:We're lucky that Kearney isn't hurt after being elbowed in the face by Webb. Sammut was banned for the same offence and Webb wasn't even charged.
Just read on sky sports news that koppy is out for 3months with his ankle and diskin also out for 12wks with dislocated ankle. Elliot kear is out for some time witj a broken wrist, and chev walker has broken a rib! Add to that, purtells plight, and things ate looking pretty grim on the squad front!
'Potter is likely to bring in O’Brien, Addy, Olbison and Sibbit for Bradford’s next match'. - SL website.
I think we may use Elima as a fourth prop against Cas due to the Kopczak injury. I think Platt will come in for Purtell.
Nosmoking
says...
3:11pm Wed 30 May 12
Nosmoking
says...
3:11pm Wed 30 May 12
Nosmoking
says...
3:11pm Wed 30 May 12
Nosmoking
says...
3:11pm Wed 30 May 12
Nosmoking
says...
3:13pm Wed 30 May 12
Shelfrhino
says...
3:36pm Wed 30 May 12
If it seems his body may not be up to the rigours of RL in the future he could always try his hand at RU I'm sure.
murphyslaw
says...
4:05pm Wed 30 May 12
Nosmoking wrote:Haha yes I was just thinking I do get your point!!!! While I agree everything comes to those who wait it does all look rather fishy. What happened to all the urgency we were getting at the time the begging bowl was being waved? Suddenly it seems we have all the time in the world.
Why does this site multiply posts, pressed button once. Or should I say my apologies for going on a bit/repeating myself.
Nosmoking
says...
5:06pm Wed 30 May 12
Sheffieldbull
says...
10:19pm Wed 30 May 12
murphyslaw wrote:How am I insulting anyone murphyslaw? This article wasn't about the BOD or the financial crisis at the Club or the Pledge is was about a 27 year old guy who for a reasonable wage put his body of the line for our Club. This article was significantly different to the others because it confirmed facts and a very human story. Sorry if you find all this a tad tiresome mate, lets get back to the important 'Breaking Financial News'... oh! thats right - there isn't any! Well, thats my insults over with today. Regards....
Wots up wrote:It's NOT the case 'wots up' this is the fourth article on this subject and is nothing but the usual press sensationlism. Sheff likes to insult people usually at the expense of totally missing the serious point. Having begged money from us surely we have a right to at least hear something about the clubs plight. It seems the misfortune of Purtell is being used as an excuse for not reporting other issues.
Sheffieldbull wrote:That may be the case but it is a concern that this review is taking so long. Now over 3 weeks since Hood resigned and little has come from the new board. Doesn't give me much confidence.
murphyslaw wrote:I think you'll find the content of this article very different from the others murphyslaw, but then, you need to moan about something don't you.? Bet Mr Purtell is more positive than you squire, after all thats what this article is about.
We all wish Adrian well and that he has a speedy transition to full recovery. This is the fourth story the T&A have run on this and all simply reiterate the previous one. Adrian needs to be left alone with his family now in order to relax fully and we should all be being fed news of what's happening at the club. As far as I'm aware the club indicated that the 'review' would be speedy and some conclusions were to be available by the middle of last week. It is amazing that in such a crisis and having taken such a huge chunk of fans money the club remain silent especially as the RFL have blocked them from doing any deals with players until finances are resolved.
deano-41
says...
7:58am Thu 31 May 12
Sheffieldbull says...
7:31am Wed 30 May 12