A surgeon has shared a terrifying insight into the grim reality of an intensive care ward at a busy hospital during the latest Covid-19 crisis as he delivered an impassioned plea for everyone to get vaccinated.
Dr Ahmad Aly, the brother of Logie-winning The Project host Waleed is a general surgeon at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital.
He filmed a video interviewing an colleague in ICU and was shocked to find all 13 patients fighting for life with coronavirus were unvaccinated, with most on a ventilator.
The confronting video was shared by his journalist sister-in-law Susan Carland on the day Victoria recorded 1,890 new cases with health officials very concerned about the spread into regional areas, where there are 120 active cases.
Dr Ahmad Aly (right) interviewed a Austin Hospital colleague (left) about Covid patients in the ICU ward, where many are young and end up on a ventilator
The video shows the doctor telling Dr Aly that none of the Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital’s ICU have been vaccinated as he warns of the life-changing impacts the virus will have.
Less than seven per cent of the Victorians in hospital are fully vaccinated, while many of the patients are ‘fairly young’.
‘So with normal ICU patients, a day or two is pretty much standard,’ the doctor explains.
‘Some of the patients will be here with us for three or four weeks even, it’s that serious.’
‘After a critical illness of this severity, the legacy lasts the rest of your life.’
‘The impact stays with you for decades, People are never quite the same as they were before.’
He said he had never seen so many young people in ICU with the one problem, all of whom are at a high risk of dying.
‘The message is really clear,’ a shocked Dr Aly replied. ‘They’re young, they’re not vaccinated, they’re all from our community.’
The video was shared by the surgeon’s journalist sister-in-law Susan Carland (pictured with her husband Waleed Aly
The confronting video ends with Dr Ahmad Aly (pictured) for everyone to get vaccinated
More Covid-19 patients have been admitted to the ward since the video was filmed less than two weeks ago.
‘If you are vaccinated, you may get Covid but you don’t end up here. You don’t get sick,’ Dr Aly urged in his impassioned plea.
Dr Aly, who is also a senior lecturer and researcher at Melbourne University urged community leaders with ‘influence’ to help boost vaccination rates.
About 58 per cent of Victorians over 15 are vaccinated with the state on track to meet the 70 per cent milestone by October 26, which will end its sixth lockdown.
‘You have to tell our community to get vaccinated. Take the courage of the Prophets, of the Sahaba. Stand up for what is actually right,’ Dr Aly pleaded.
‘Because you can save lives, you can make the difference here. Without your help, I think we’re lost. Honestly, this is what I’ve seen today.’
Victoria recorded 1890 new cases on Sunday with health officials very concerned about the spread into regional areas (pictured a Melbourne testing clinic)
In sharing the video, Dr Carland said her brother-in-law has been ‘desperately worried’ by what, and who, he is seeing at Austin Hospital.
It has been retweeted by Victoria’s chief heath officer Professor Brett Sutton, who has personally known Dr Aly for more than three decades.
‘A surgeon of great intellect and integrity. Please listen to his plea,’ he posted.
Dr Carland previously joked her presenter husband Waleed was an ‘under-achiever’ compared to his older brother after the surgeon appeared a 30-second television ad for Cancer Council Victoria.
Victoria recorded 1,890 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, slightly down from a record-breaking 1,965 announced a day earlier.
The state’s Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar is gravely concerned about the spread of cases in regional Victoria, where there are 120 infections.
Regional areas of concern include Mildura (20 cases), the Baw Baw shire (18) Shepparton (16), Geelong and Maceon Ranges, (12 each) and Latrobe (11).
Dr Ahmad Aly (left) was shocked to learn all of Austin Hospital’s Covid patients in ICU were unvaccinated
There is also great concern about a growing cluster of infections in Melbourne’s southeast, with 164 cases emerging in Casey.
‘I would really stress again please do not rely on these case narratives but says it is only in a few locations, it is increasingly coming in the suburbs across Melbourne and regional Victoria,’ Mr Weimar told reporters.
‘[We are seeing] a significant continual growth in the case numbers and we are seeing ongoing growth in case numbers across regional Victoria.’
Mr Andrews issued a blunt warning to Victorians who were still unvaccinated in the final weeks leading up to the reopening of the state.
‘If you are vaccinated, your chance of finishing up in hospital gravely ill are but a fraction, a tiny fraction of what an unvaccinated person’s risks are,’ he said.
‘Of course, it will change and become even more stark as we open up.
‘When we get to 80 per cent double dose… the virus will spread, especially among those who are not vaccinated… you are at a much higher risk.’
Victorian Covid Commander Jeroen Weimar (pictured) warned Victorians the virus was now spreading everywhere, not just in the familiar Covid hotspots
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