Greg’s Story

Greg’s story

Greg was a busy and active man in his fifties, working full time to deliver milk.  His partner Val shares with us his story, and the devastating impact whooping cough has had on his life.

“Greg contracted whooping cough back in August 2016.  At the time we didn’t know what it was, but when he started coughing so much that he would pass out, we took him straight to the hospital.

An older doctor walked past Greg, who was coughing and coughing, and realised immediately that Greg had whooping cough, so he was immediately placed into isolation. 

We went home, but Greg still kept passing out every few days.  He was so sick.  We went to the doctors where I showed them videos of him passing out, and they immediately sent him back to the hospital for a little while.

Back at home, Greg still wasn’t getting much better.  One day I was chatting to him on the phone, and suddenly I heard a loud THUD and then silence.  Greg had passed out again, faceplanting on the garage floor. 

He was out cold for five minutes – it was terrifying.

Greg has never really recovered from whooping cough.  A few years later he was diagnosed with scarring on the lungs.  The doctors said he had pulmonary fibrosis, and that it was terminal. 

Greg now has a constant wheeze and uses a CPAP machine to help him breathe.  Soon, he will be constantly on oxygen.  He can only walk very short distances, his oxygen levels are never above 89 and he is always tired.

I know I’m so lucky that I didn’t get sick too.  While it spread to my parents and workmate, I had been vaccinated four years earlier when my grandchild was born and managed to avoid the infection.  I wish that more people knew that whooping cough doesn’t just affect babies – it can have a terrible impact on adults too”