A Busselton grandmother is fighting for her life in a Bali hospital after a fall left her with six severe fractures and a serious reaction to pain medication.
Estelle Ravenscroft, 79, was on holiday with her husband, Keith, when she fell into an open stairwell while using the bathroom at a restaurant. She landed on the steps below.
Mrs Ravenscroft, who has osteoporosis, suffered three fractures in each leg. Doctors found the injuries were so severe that both legs had to be manually realigned before being placed in traction.
Her great-niece Brieanna Fisher said Mrs Ravenscroft’s vital signs then deteriorated after she was given an opioid injection to control the pain.
“Her vital signs plummeted, she began convulsing, and her condition deteriorated so dramatically that her family feared they were about to lose her,” Ms Fisher said.
The reaction limited the pain relief available to Mrs Ravenscroft while medical staff treated her injuries. She later underwent a nine-hour emergency operation and required two blood transfusions because of blood loss.
She remains in intensive care with continuing complications affecting her heart, oxygen levels and blood. She also needs oxygen support and further medical treatment.
Her family is facing the financial strain of hospital charges, ambulance transport, medical imaging, intensive care, surgery, transfusions and ongoing care because Mrs Ravenscroft does not have travel insurance.
“Keith is required to pay the hospital’s medical charges every single day, including when he leaves the hospital,” Ms Fisher said.
A fundraising campaign has raised almost 12,000 dollars towards a 62,000-dollar target. The family is also concerned about arranging medically appropriate transport back to Australia and the specialist treatment and rehabilitation Mrs Ravenscroft may need in Perth.
Ms Fisher said the couple might be unable to return directly to their home in Busselton and could face a prolonged period away from their friends and community.
Mrs Ravenscroft has spent more than 30 years supporting and empowering women to improve their health, confidence and quality of life, following the death of her daughter in 1990.
“Our family is not simply trying to raise money to pay medical bills. We are trying to ensure Estelle can continue receiving the care she needs, recover from this devastating ordeal and, when medically safe, return to Australia,” Ms Fisher said.
