After travelling through Vietnam, Mr Warren Bailey (72 years old, Canadian) was found in a coma by the hotel staff shortly before he was to return home. Mr Bailey was immediately taken to the FV Hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department.

FV doctors immediately determined that Mr Bailey had suffered a stroke. As there was no time to find a family member to sign a letter of permission to undertake this complicated craniotomy surgery, FV doctors decided to act immediately to save Mr Bailey’s life.

Doctors focus on saving the patient’s life when they can’t contact next of kin

Dr Nguyen Manh Hung explains patient Warren Bailey’s stroke, hemorrhage and haematoma

After directly treating the patient, Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, Head of Neurosurgery and Endovascular Neurosurgery at FV Hospital, said that Mr Bailey was admitted to the hospital in a coma and was hemiplegic. CT scan results showed heavy bleeding and haematoma on the right side of the patient’s brain which was causing heavy pressure on its right hemisphere.

“The haematoma demonstrates that the patient has previously experienced trauma. A recent concussion resulted in bleeding, agglomeration and compression of the brain,” says Dr Hung said.

Because the patient’s life was in danger and there was no opportunity to contact his relatives nearby, Dr. Hung decided to sign a patient consent form for the surgery. Dr Hung and his team immediately performed a craniotomy, removing all clotted blood from the patient’s brain. Over 30 minutes, surgeons removed a three-centimetre-thick haematoma before Mr Bailey was medically sedated so that he would sleep for 48 hours to help his body recover.

Dr Hung was happy when the patient regained consciousness and was able to share his medical history

After two days, Mr Bailey has recovered and was awakened. The surgical team was very excited to see that he was alert, engaged and had full recall, and was able to share his medical history in great detail.

Mr Bailey is an electrical engineer who had travel to Vietnam on holiday. He had experienced a fall in the past and hit his head quite hard, but thought no damage had occurred.

He shared that he was surprised that the hospital had quickly identified and contacted his wife, and was grateful that FVH supported her in completing procedures to travel to Vietnam.

FV supports the patient’s relatives in travelling to Vietnam as soon as possible 

Ms Nguyen Thi Ly, FV Hospital’s Medical Office Manager, said that FV’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department had sent her a photo of Mr Warren’s passport when they brought him to the hospital. After receiving this information, she quickly composed a letter to send it to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Consulate of Canada.

At 3 am the next morning, the Consulate introduced a woman to FVH: Brenda Bailey, Mr Bailey’s wife.

Mr Warren is happy to have his wife by his side as he recovers 

“After Mrs Bailey provided documents to confirm that she was related to the patient, we provided information about her husband’s situation and supported Mrs Bailey in taking care of the necessary procedures so that she could travel quickly to Vietnam to take care of her husband,” says Ms Ly.

After arriving in Vietnam, Mrs Brenda Bailey was moved to tears when she heard the story of Dr Nguyen Manh Hung‘s decision to perform surgery to save her husband. The act of signing the patient consent for a surgery can cause that doctor legal trouble if the patient unfortunately does not survive.

Mrs Brenda Bailey takes a photo with Dr Hung before her husband is discharged from the hospital

Ms Brenda Bailey is also very grateful for the positive support of hospital staff in advising her on how to secure a visa as soon as possible. With full faith in the medical team of FV Hospital, the Baileys decided to rent an apartment near the hospital so that Mr Bailey could rest before his follow-up exams.

The medical team that treated Warren Bailey said that he recovered quickly, recovering his motor functions immediately and regained his cognitive ability steadily over a few days. On the day of his discharge, Mr Bailey was touched to share: “The hospital took good care of me. Thank you, Dr Hung, for saving me in the nick of time while I hovered between life and death.”

When Dr Nguyen Manh Hung was asked about his decision to sign the letter of permission in this urgent situation to save the life of patient Warren Bailey, he said: “When I decided to take responsibility for the life-saving surgery, I had full confidence in myself and the FV medical team. If I work in fear of possible legal complications, I would not be able to fulfill my obligations as a doctor in accordance with medical ethics.”