Tragedy has struck an Australian family while on holiday in China after a Victorian man suffered a heart attack.
David Crowley and his wife Penelope were on a three-week adventure through China when their Covid-postponed adventure was flipped upside down.
While on a group tour of Guilin, a city in southern China famously known for its iconic limestone mountains and caves, Mr Crowley started to feel unwell.
He started to develop a chesty cold and proceeded to grab some cold and flu tablets from the local pharmacy.
The next morning the 64-year-old father from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria started to feel worse for wear as he could not move, breathe and went ghastly pale.
Mrs Crowley immediately went to the accommodation’s reception desk and called for an ambulance.
Paramedics arrived within 10 minutes and rushed Mr Crowley to Guilin People’s Hospital – just 1km from their hotel, in the Xiangshan District.
It was later revealed the 64-year-old suffered a heart attack resulting in the initial diagnosis of “heart failure”.
He was placed into an induced coma and underwent surgery to get two stents inserted.
A stent is a small mesh tube typically used to hold open passages in the body, such as weak or narrowed blood vessels.
The couple’s son told news.com.au his mother mentioned to him there was a few steps involved in the trip which Mr Crowley could typically handle, but this time around he was “quite slow” getting up the stairs.
“Mum thought he had a chest infection more than anything else,” Liam Crowley said.
“In the first two days of dad being in ICU, mum was slapped with a $11,000 bill for the ambulance trip and surgery on Tuesday.
“It’s averaging about $2000 a day. They just put the eftpos machine in front of Mum when she gets in.”
A GoFundMe has been started to raise much needed funds for his father following a mishap with an insurance company after the family could not receive any claiming rights due to a “pre-existing medical condition”, according to Liam.
As of March 15, Mr Crowley woke up from his induced coma and has been able to breathe on his own.
“Timeframes aren’t known but he is expecting to remain in this hospital for another fortnight with further surgery dependent on his strength,” Liam said on the GoFundMe post.
“The family all thank-you for your kind messages and support and hope we can bring further positive updates in the coming days.”
As of Wednesday March 19, just over $15,000 has been raised from 144 donations with the goal of $50,000 in sight.
