The thank you letter was addressed simply: Nurse Stacey, Coronary Care Ward, Maitland Hospital.
It was posted by Neil Coutts at Maitland Post Office, in the NSW Hunter Valley, a rather modest distance of two kilometres away from its destination, and was his way of showing his appreciation for an act of goodwill.
"It was my 60th birthday - March 17, St Patrick's Day - and I was walking with my wife Sue through the shopping plaza near Kmart," Neil, of Martins Creek, recalled.
"I was feeling unwell and next thing I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, Sue was there with this nurse named Stacey who had been walking by and had rushed over to help when she saw me on the ground.
"Sue was understandably panicky, but Stacey stayed with us, checked my pulse and so on, until the ambulance arrived and carted me off to hospital.
"She mentioned while we were waiting for the ambulance that she was a nurse in coronary care - which was a stroke of good luck."
Fortunately for Neil, it was nothing too serious.
Wish I could get a trip to Thailand for the cost of a stamp
- Neil Coutts
"I"d been suffering from conjunctivitis and the feeling among the medical staff was that it was an adverse reaction to the antibiotics I'd been taking," he said.
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So, back at home after his trip to hospital, Neil decided to write a thankyou note to Nurse Stacey, and posted it next time he was in town - one week after the incident.
"I wrote my email address on the back in case she wanted to get back to me," he said.
And she surely did. Eight months later in November - as soon as she'd received the letter.
She even attached a picture of the envelope which shows it had not taken the direct route, but somehow found its way to Thailand and back - a distance of just over 15,000 kilometres.
It was posted back to Australia on November 5, carrying a 'Missent to Thailand' stamp.
Neil could see the funny side.
"Wish I could get a trip to Thailand for the cost of a stamp," he said.
If you're wondering how things could have gone so awry, we contacted Australia Post, and they put it down to human error.
"While the vast majority of letters make it to their destination on time, it's clear something has gone wrong in this case," an Australia Post spokesperson said.
"We're sorry our customer's letter didn't arrive on time.
"Human error caused the letter to be missorted."
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
A journo all my working life and never wanted to change, also a self confessed sports tragic.
