YOUR IMPACT ON BURNS AND TRAUMA PATIENT CARE AND RESEARCH
BURNS AND TRAUMA
Burns, trauma and critical care is an area of research and patient care proudly supported by the RBWH Foundation since it helped open the Queensland Skin Bank at RBWH in 2001.
The night of 5 August, 2020 began like many others for long-distance truck driver, Glen Bennett, as he headed north to Cairns on his regular freight run from Brisbane. Five hours into the drive, just south of Miriam Vale, a thick blanket of heavy fog set in and a series of coincidences, ahead of Glen, were about to have horrif ic consequences. With visibility reduced, another semi-trailer swerved to miss a pulled-over caravan and headed straight into the path of a third semi. Following behind, Glen was unaware of the danger and plowed directly into a highway pile-up. The collision was catastrophic. Glen’s fully-loaded B-Double exploded into flames. Driven by thoughts of wife Roni and baby son, Hugo, Glen managed to escape but not before sustaining burns to 70% of his body. He was airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH), where he would remain for six months, the first 24 days in a coma. When he finally woke, Glen had lost both his legs. A RBWH multi-disciplinary team of trauma, intensive care and burns experts worked together to mend Glen’s shattered body. He almost lost an arm, underwent 19 operations, numerous skin grafts and intense physical rehabilitation.
learning to walk in prosthetic legs. They are small steps which owe much to the expertise of RBWH trauma and burns experts. As Queensland’s major quaternary and tertiary referral teaching hospital, RBWH can offer patients like Glen highly complex specialist care and equipment not widely available in other hospitals, including access to national and international clinical trials. Burns, trauma and critical care is an area of research and patient care proudly supported by the RBWH Foundation since it helped open the Queensland Skin Bank at RBWH in 2001. The Skin Bank allowed the state’s medical scientists, for the f irst time, to store and culture grafts for burn patients. RBWH research in the area expanded further following the 2002 Bali bombings, in which then Royal Brisbane Hospital played a major role treating patients. In 2021, skin culture and regeneration entered a new era with the opening of Herston Biofabrication Institute (HBI) where research is now underway into 3D bioprinting of skin. (Story page 15).
Glen’s recovery is remarkable and although far from over, the outlook is positive. Glen’s ‘new normal’ has him back behind the wheel of the family car and
26 | RBWH Foundation 2021 D ONOR IM PACT REPORT
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