- Reita’s husband, Stewart, has always had a green thumb and loves spending time in their garden
- In mid 2026, Stewart, 76, fell into a coma after handling potting mix when he contracted Nocardia an infection from the soil
- After three months in hospital, Stewart was strong enough to return home, and now, together with Reita, the couple are raising awareness about the dangers of contaminated soil
Here Reita Wright, 82, from Ballarat, Vic tells her own story in her own words.
Breathing in the fresh air, I saw my husband Stewart, 76, pulling into the driveway after a Bunnings run.
‘Hey love!’ he beamed, carrying a big bag of potting mix to the backyard.
We were a garden-proud couple – our lush plot sported an abundance of vegies, bright flowers and decorative plants.
Having retired from his job as an on-set safety adviser on films a month earlier in April this year, Stewart loved pottering about outside with me.
Today he was repotting a struggling plant.
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A few days later, my daughter Tamsin, 58, her girl Sunni, 19, and my nephew, Robert, 66, came to stay to celebrate our 27th anniversary and a belated Mother’s Day.
After we tucked into dinner and played a quiz, Stewart headed to bed around 10pm. Shortly after, we all did the same.
‘Happy anniversary, my love,’ I kissed him, before closing my eyes.
‘I love you,’ he replied.
Just a few hours later, I woke to the sound of Stewart’s ragged breathing.
‘I can’t breathe,’ he wheezed, hunched over the side of the bed.
He tried to stand up, only to collapse onto the floor, banging his right temple on the chest of drawers on the way down.
‘Stewy!’ I cried, rushing to him.
Has he had a heart attack? I worried, begging him to wake up.
I flipped him over and started CPR… but nothing.
Panicked, I screamed as I ran up the hallway, where Tamsin and Sunni found me.
‘I think Stewy’s dead,’ I cried.
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Racing back to my bedroom, we found Stewart had been sick.
Thank God he’s alive! I thought.
By now, Robert had also come to our aid, helping me turn Stewart on his side, while Tamsin called triple-0. Stewart was slightly blue but talking.
Ten minutes later, paramedics arrived and Stewart was still conscious. They rushed him to Ballarat Base Hospital with an oxygen mask, while Robert and I followed in his car.
When we arrived, Stewy seemed more like himself, and even cracked a joke about how my salad had landed him in hospital.
It was a relief to see my husband acting like his cheeky self.
But as he waited to be triaged, his heart went into arrhythmia. They tried to shock it back into rhythm, before whisking him straight to the ICU.
Terrified, I called his daughter Lara, 45, who rushed straight there.
By the time we were allowed to see him, he was in an induced coma.
His lungs were struggling, but despite tests, doctors couldn’t figure out why. He’d always been fit as a fiddle.
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The next day, a doctor told us he was so unwell, he may not survive. My heart shattered. I couldn’t imagine a world without Stewy in it.
I stayed by his side all the time.
He was in a coma on his 77th birthday so I hung streamers in his room, and the nurses wrote Happy Birthday Stewart! on the whiteboard.
A team of specialists ran countless scans and tests, to no avail. Finally, a week later, they had an answer.
‘Stewart has nocardiosis,’ a specialist said, revealing a bacteria called Nocardia nova, which can be found in soil and water, was detected in his system.
‘Is he a gardener?’ they asked. That’s when I remembered the potting mix Stewart had used just days before he fell ill.
Although he always wore gloves and washed his hands after gardening, he never wore a mask.
Doctors believed the infection was likely contracted by him breathing in particles from the potting mix bag. It’d also resulted in two fungal infections and pneumonia. Stress from the infections had caused the heart issues.
Stewart was started on antibiotics. After two weeks, he came to, but he still couldn’t talk or walk.
With the doctor’s help, I did my best to explain to him what had happened.
I held his hand in mine, and he gave me a comforting squeeze as if he was saying I love you.
Slowly, over the next few weeks, Stewart started showing signs of improvement. When he smiled, it felt like a miracle. He underwent daily physio, learning to walk with a frame.
I was so proud of his determination, as was Lara, who visited regularly.
‘If you weren’t in such good shape, you likely wouldn’t have made it,’ doctors said.
After three months in hospital, Stewart was finally discharged.
He couldn’t shower or go to the bathroom alone so I had to help him.
Six months on, he’s regained his independence in most things.
He’s back to cooking dinners, and has braved going back to his beloved gardening, but not without a high filtration P2 mask which filters out 94 per cent of airborne particles.
He’ll be on antibiotics for a whole year, to treat the nocardiosis and ensure he doesn’t have another attack. He’s going to see a cardiologist to determine whether he has any ongoing heart issues.
We’re desperate to raise awareness about potting mix, and are fighting for bigger, bolder warning labels on the bags to alert people about the dangers, particularly for elderly gardeners or people who are immunocompromised.
I’m just so grateful my husband pulled through.
I can’t believe his hobby almost killed him.
Every day with him is a blessing.
Garden safely
Nocardiosis is rare, but it can be fatal. To protect yourself while gardening, wear gloves and a mask, and wash your hands thoroughly.
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