Husband of Wellington nurse who died from flu opens eyes and responds to nurses

The husband of a Wellington nurse who died from the flu and has been battling for his own life is now responding to cues, his family said.

The Wellington father had earlier undergone a procedure to fix a hole in his lung after battling flu complications.

John Patrick Leonard’s brother-in-law, Darrell Packe, posted on Facebook that Leonard opened his eyes and responded to nurses’ requests.

“He has a tube down his throat so can’t speak, but uses hand gestures to communicate.”

John Leonard, with his sons Jed and Sam and late wife Maria Packe-Leonard, who died from the flu in July. Leonard is battling the same illness in Auckland City Hospital.

“The updates have gone from critical and stable to critical, responsive and stable.

“We will see him tomorrow and let him know he has a large following of well-wishers. We thank you for that, it helps a lot.”

Leonard was flown to Auckland for more specialist care after he took “a step backwards” while in an induced coma in Wellington Hospital’s ICU unit.

“He had been starting to stabilise last week to the point doctors took him off dialysis on Friday, allowing his kidneys to function unaided,” Packe said.

On Sunday, Leonard had a procedure to repair a hole in his lung when the doctors put in a one-way valve to repair the hole.

“He’s on an ECMO machine that does the work for his lungs, and midday yesterday they reduced the machine’s input due to John’s fight to beat this,” Packe said.

“[His sons] Jed and Sam are coping day by day, they feel your love. Maria and John would be very proud of them.”

Leonard’s wife, Maria, died on July 21 from influenza A, 10 days after developing symptoms.

His two sons, aged 14 and 15, shared a message on the Givealittle page, thanking everyone for their “kind messages of support” and donations.

“We appreciate you,” they said.

Maria Packe-Leonard died from flu-like symptoms in Hutt Hospital on July 21. Husband John was flown to Auckland City Hospital suffering from a similar illness.

The two were treated to tickets to the All Blacks v Argentina game at Sky Stadium on Saturday night.

The otherwise fit and healthy Maria Packe-Leonard had gone to the hospital ED the day before her death and was checked over and discharged. The next day she was “a little bit better” in the morning, but went quickly downhill and succumbed to her illness.

Packe said there was a preliminary report into her death, but it said “bugger all” and did not shed any light on why the virus had hit her so hard.

Shortly after Packe-Leonard’s death, her husband, too, started deteriorating, Packe said.

Leonard’s last message to friends on Facebook thanked everyone for their support after his wife’s death.

“Excuse me, but I’m full of the flu. So I’ll turn my phone off for the night. I’m going to try and get some sleep,” he wrote.

Just a couple of days later, Leonard was also fighting for his life in hospital.

The family have put Packe-Leonard’s funeral on hold while they watch Leonard’s recovery.

“What we’re hoping for is that he pulls through, gets well again, strong enough to attend a funeral with his boys,” Packe said last week.

He said the family were doing “pretty well, considering”.

“We’re just having to deal with some hard stuff. Like everyone would be, we’re going through highs and lows.”

The boys have been doing “very well” and Packe said the family were making sure to talk to them openly and encourage them to do what feels right, whether that meant going to school or staying at home in bed.

“If they want to cry, that’s fine, if they want to laugh, that’s fine. It’s been quite a journey with the boys. They are very special kids.”