{"id":130406,"date":"2025-11-12T00:24:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T00:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/130406\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T00:24:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T00:24:10","slug":"babys-terrifying-fight-for-life-after-sudden-collapse-at-rural-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/130406\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby\u2019s terrifying fight for life after sudden collapse at rural home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MelMel Roborgh says she\u2019ll never forget the moment the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed on their farm near Culverden in December 2017. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile nothing appeared to be wrong with Iris, I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that something seemed off,\u201d Roborgh said.<\/p>\n

She decided to call Healthline, convincing herself she was probably overreacting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was telling myself that I was probably overreacting and that she was fine, but I wanted to call to be sure,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While on the phone, Iris\u2019s breathing changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was almost making a bit of a grunting noise, so I put her mouth up to the phone so the staff could hear, and they called for an ambulance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transferred to a call with paramedics, Roborgh tried to stay calm as Iris suddenly deteriorated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, she just went floppy in my arms; it was horrible,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"IrisIris Roborgh, now a healthy and energetic child, was just 8 weeks old when she was airlifted to hospital in a life-or-death rescue. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ambulance man on the phone took complete control and talked me through what to do. He was telling me to put her on a flat surface and listen to her breathing. She hadn\u2019t stopped breathing, but she sounded like she was struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ambulance arrived within 15 minutes and immediately called for a helicopter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just felt sick, I had no idea what was going on with my baby,\u201d Roborgh said.<\/p>\n

Within 24 minutes, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed beside the house. Ten minutes later, Iris was inside, connected to oxygen and heart monitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe helicopter paramedics just came in and took complete control and the absolute relief when they do, I just can\u2019t even put it into words.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the flight, Roborgh stared at her baby\u2019s ashen face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just looking at her, and she was almost a grey, ashy colour, she just looked terrible. It was really scary. I thought she was going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the hospital, Iris was rushed for tests.<\/p>\n

\"WithinWithin 24 minutes, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed right next to the house and 10 minutes later, Iris was loaded into the chopper and hooked up to oxygen and heart monitoring machines. Photo \/ George Heard<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had become listless and wasn\u2019t crying or fussing when hospital staff were checking her over and running tests, which is something you\u2019d expect from a baby,\u201d Roborgh said.<\/p>\n

Doctors diagnosed a grade-five kidney reflux and a severe kidney infection that had spread into her bloodstream. After 10 days on an IV drip, Iris was finally well enough to go home.<\/p>\n

Roborgh said the paramedics\u2019 calm professionalism kept her grounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relief was immense when the chopper turned up. They just took the panic out of the situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was still terrified, but they helped me to stay grounded and were very good at talking me through each step, like explaining the heart rate monitor patterns while we were in the chopper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s looking forward to Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa\u2019s Night for Flight fundraiser, which supports the Canterbury Westpac Rescue Helicopters and a new local helipad.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving rurally, you\u2019re sort of isolated from town and not close to hospitals or major health facilities so it\u2019s really important to know that somebody is going to come and be there for you and help you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the Westpac Rescue Helicopters, the outcome for our daughter could have been very different so we\u2019re really grateful to them for saving our girl.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mel Roborgh says she\u2019ll never forget the moment the Westpac Rescue Helicopter landed on their farm near Culverden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[80672,74,12116,1975,6794,72157,17400,14032,309,15124,2082,1345,424,66426,111,43,139,69,90007,3175,24994,17435,20110,65508,2201,1316],"class_list":["post-130406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-8weekold","tag-after","tag-arms","tag-at","tag-baby","tag-babys","tag-collapse","tag-daughter","tag-die","tag-fight","tag-for","tag-home","tag-life","tag-limp","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-roborghs","tag-rural","tag-sudden","tag-terrifying","tag-thought","tag-watching","tag-went","tag-when"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}