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The mum of a man who sustained life-threatening injuries in a Bali motorbike crash has appealed for help after arriving in the country to find her son “screaming in pain and covered in blood”.
Melbourne mum Sue flew to the Indonesian island immediately after receiving a frantic call from a friend of her son, Billy, who revealed his involvement in a catastrophic crash on August 15.
Billy was taken to a local hospital with bleeding in his brain, 10 broken ribs, damaged lungs, a broken foot, a broken collarbone, eye socket damage, and several other injuries.
Sue told news.com.au he urgently needed multiple surgeries, but the procedures were being delayed because the hospital required upfront payment of funds the family didn’t have access to.
“Billy has been lying in emergency and no one has touched him,” she said.
It was only after she managed to pay $12,000 that he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit, but now the hospital has requested about $130,000 before proceeding with his treatment.
She felt it was “appalling” her son was not being tended to in the meantime and had only been given paracetamol to manage his pain despite his extensive injuries.
“He’s been in such horrific pain and to just be given essentially Panadol, it was pretty disgusting,” she said.
Her son hadn’t taken out travel insurance but the family was hopeful at the prospect of accessing part coverage of his hospital expenses through insurance automatically included with a bank card he purchased prior to the trip.
While Sue endured the agonising wait to learn if the insurance would cover anything, she has appealed to the community for help on GoFundMe.
She said Billy couldn’t remember how the crash unfolded after leaving the beach where he had earlier been to watch the sunset.
Sue had been distraught seeing Billy not being treated despite having such serious injuries.
“The hospital won’t do anything until it gets paid,” she said.
For seven days of treatment, including the surgeries he needs, she will need to hand over at least $125,000.
In addition, he will need at least four weeks of recovery before his family could entertain the idea of having him flown back to Australia.
Sue hoped Billy’s horrific ordeal would serve as a reminder for Australians travelling to Bali to ensure their travel insurance covered motorbike accidents.
She also warned tourists that hospitals would not treat patients without being paid upfront.
“It doesn’t matter what condition you’re in, even if you’re critical, they won’t touch you,” she said.
“If you don’t have money in your pocket and you have an injury and go to hospital, you have to pay upfront to be able to get treatment.”
Do you have a similar story? Continue the conversation | brooke.rolfe@news.com.au
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