A Hunter Valley woman placed in a coma after falling while holidaying in Thailand is now recovering at Newcastle’s John Hunter hospital, with her husband thanking the community for helping bring her home.
Kylee Enwright from Singleton was enjoying drinks with her husband Paul Enwright at a hotel bar in Khao Lak in late May when she tripped down some stairs and hit her head.
“We were supposed to be there for 14 days having a poolside resort holiday,” Mr Enwright said.
“We got no more than 10 hours into it.
“It turned quite terrible very quickly.”
An online fundraiser to pay for Ms Enwright to be transported back to Australia for further treatment raised almost $220,000.
The Enwrights were able to fly back to Australia late last week on a medically supervised flight.
Mr Enwright said nine seats were removed from a commercial plane so his wife could be transported on a stretcher with a doctor and nurse supervising.
He is grateful to everyone who offered support to get them back to Australia.
“[From] the bottom of my heart … [I appreciate] that people reached out and did what they did,” Mr Enwright said.
“They’re all the reason we’re here, because without the support and financial donations we’d still be in Thailand.”
Signs of improvement
Since arriving back in Australia, Ms Enwright has been showing positive signs, Mr Enwright said.
“She has had an MRI and she seems to be a lot more content and stable,” he said.
“There’s still no communication, verbal or anything like that yet.
“You can see emotion in her eyes and face and she’s problem-solving.
“She has even at some points tried to undo her restraints that they have her in with her toes.”
Mr Enwright says it will take up to a year to determine the extent Ms Enwright can recover.
“We’ve been told by the doctors the most improvement happens between the three and 12 months mark,” he said.
“And then once 12 months hits, there’s very little improvement. It’ll be what it is.”
In the meantime, Mr Enwright is looking forward to his wife being able to leave the hospital.
“I just want to have her back home,” he said.
“I’ve lost my person I can talk to and communicate to and share things with.”
Thanks to Singleton community
Mr Enwright has relied on fundraising support after his travel insurance claim for his wife’s medical expenses and flight home was rejected.
Mr Enwright was shocked to learn their travel insurance could be voided due to alcohol consumption.
“A lot of people didn’t know there was a clause like that in their policy,” Mr Enwright said.
“I assumed if you were drink-driving or doing something illegal, you probably wouldn’t be covered.
“But [thought] if you’re sitting in your hotel doing holiday sort of stuff, if anything went wrong, you would be covered.”
Mr Enwright says the community support in Singleton has been immense.
“That’s what we are — we’re a very tight-knit community,” he said.
“I’m sort of lucky in a way that I’ve been able to bring my wife home, especially in light of the other tragic accident that happened with the bus crash.
“There’s other families in this community that aren’t able to bring loved ones home.
“It’s been a pretty crap time all round. My heart goes out to those families as well.”
Loading
