Community
Copyright@ Australian Catholic University 1998-2025 | ABN 15 050 192 660 CRICOS registered provider: 00004G | PRV12008
Copyright@ Australian Catholic University 1998-2025 | ABN 15 050 192 660 CRICOS registered provider: 00004G | PRV12008
Late one evening in 2020, a 17-year-old named Maxie Diamantopoulos jolted awake in her Melbourne bedroom feeling nauseous and disoriented. She called out to her parents for help. “I was like, ‘I’m not feeling good’,” she recalls, “and then I went into this random seizure.”
Later in hospital, tests ruled out epilepsy. Doctors initially misdiagnosed Maxie’s seizures, failing to identify the true cause – a delay that meant she was unable to receive the treatment she urgently needed.
Meanwhile, the episodes became more frequent. Over the ensuing weeks and months, Maxie’s body was regularly sent into convulsions, stealing her breath and temporarily paralysing her legs.
Hospital stays consumed her final years of high school. Classes were missed and exams left untaken as her health spiralled.
“At one point I was having up to three seizures a day,” says Maxie, now 22. “They were brutal. Sometimes I would stop breathing or pass out and vomit, and the intermittent paralysis meant I was in and out of a wheelchair.”
Almost two years after her first seizure, on the eve of an important Year 12 exam, Maxie collapsed and went into anaphylactic shock.
“I was having this anaphylactic attack, so they put adrenaline in me through an EpiPen, and that triggered a big seizure,” she says.
“I remember at one point waking up during the seizure, which was rare, but I was aware of what was happening. I had doctors and nurses all over me and I was struggling to breathe. My airways had swollen and closed over and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’.”
In the aftermath of the event, Maxie hit rock-bottom. The combination of illness, seizures, and ongoing health uncertainty left her feeling haggard and beaten.
Yet her life was about to take a turn for the better.
Anaphylaxis was a harrowing experience for Maxie, but the respiratory symptoms that had emerged before, during and after the event were a blessing in disguise.
She was referred to Dr Ross Triolo, an experienced ear, nose and throat specialist, who discovered multiple abnormalities in Maxie’s airways. He swiftly diagnosed her with sleep apnoea.
“The doctor explained to me that the word ‘apnoea’ means, ‘to not breathe’,” Maxie says.
“He told me that I wasn’t breathing properly in my sleep, so my brain was only getting half the oxygen it needed to function adequately. It turned out that this lack of oxygen was the cause of my seizures.”
Maxie in hospital during her final years of high school.
Maxie has since had three surgeries to stop her upper airway from collapsing during sleep, and wears a CPAP machine to aid her breathing. While her chronic sleep apnoea will likely require lifelong management, she no longer experiences seizures.
“It sounds awful to say, but going into anaphylactic shock was the best thing that ever happened to me,” she says. “I went from being in a potentially life-threatening situation to being completely cured.”
With a new lease on life, Maxie turned her attention to pursuing her dream, enrolling in a Bachelor of Paramedicine at ACU’s Melbourne Campus in 2023.
Having spent so much time as a patient herself, she now looks forward to being the first face that people see in a medical emergency.
“There were times I feared for my life, and on those occasions, paramedics were my superheroes – the lifesavers who you’re always relieved to see,” says Maxie, who is in the final year of her degree.
“I was so inspired and intrigued by the profession, and I wanted to be that hero for other people. It just feels so good to be fulfilling my dream.”
Maxie viewed her diagnosis and recovery as a second chance at a healthy and independent life.
“I just felt so much better,” she says. “It all seemed like a miracle to me.”
She immediately felt a strong motivation to share that miracle with others.
If becoming a paramedic was Maxie’s way of giving back to the healthcare professionals who cared for her, Smiles 4 Miles was her way of paying it forward. She wanted to dedicate her second chance at a healthy life to helping children who weren’t as fortunate as she had been.
Since early 2023, she has led a team of volunteers who deliver fun and meaningful programs at Very Special Kids, a hospice for seriously ill children.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done,” says Maxie, who has recruited many ACU students to volunteer for Smiles 4 Miles as part of their community engagement placement.
The charity’s programs are designed to create a fun and inclusive environment for children facing life-threatening and terminal illness, and a positive distraction from their condition.
“I remember asking myself: If I was sick and I knew I didn’t have long to live, what would I want to do? And I just thought I’d want someone to distract me and make me laugh by doing silly and goofy things,” Maxie adds.
“That’s part of what we do with Smiles 4 Miles. We get the kids involved in slime-making, crazy science experiments, rainbow explosions… all that messy, fun stuff that kids love but which their parents don’t let them do at home.”
Maxie and her volunteers at the Very Special Kids hospice.
This happy-go-lucky approach has made Maxie and her volunteers among the most popular visitors at Very Special Kids.
“The children get so happy when we come in – they absolutely adore us. They squeal, they scream, they smile so much.”
Over recent years, Maxie has formed some special bonds with these children – relationships that can at times be bittersweet.
She recounts her friendship with Sage*, a girl with terminal cancer whose death came earlier than expected.
“There was this visit where [Sage] and I had so much fun together – she was being so silly and goofy, and I went home and told my dad about her, I just couldn’t stop talking about her,” she says.
On the next visit, Maxie brought along her father, himself a Smiles 4 Miles volunteer, to meet Sage.
“We walked in, and I said to the nurse, ‘Where’s [Sage] today? I have some gifts for her’. And the nurse said, ‘Oh Maxie, I’m so sorry …’ I was just so sad. She was the most beautiful girl with the sweetest heart.”
Then there was Sully*, the boy who dreamed of being a scientist so he could cure his terminal cancer.
“Hearing him say that really broke my heart,” Maxie says.
She organised a science day to give Sully a chance to experiment.
“He was having the best time with these experiments and he wouldn’t stop smiling. It was pretty special to see him living out his dream of being a scientist before he died.”
Moments like these remind Maxie that she too was once so unwell that she feared for her own life.
“Every day I’d wake up and I’d think, ‘Is today the day that I won’t survive a seizure?’ – but now I’m healthy,” Maxie says.
“This was my motivation behind founding Smiles 4 Miles. I wanted to dedicate my second chance at a healthy life to those children who are in a similar position that I was once in.
“I’ve been given a second chance, but these children will never get that opportunity. It doesn’t feel fair, but it does give you the motivation to do your best, to chase your dreams, and to use your good fortune to bring joy to people who aren’t as lucky as you.”
Learn more about Smiles 4 Miles and ACU’s community engagement opportunities.
Keen to chase your dreams through a career in paramedicine? Explore the options.
*Name has been changed.
Copyright@ Australian Catholic University 1998-2025 | ABN 15 050 192 660 CRICOS registered provider: 00004G | PRV12008
