Friends of an Australian tourist who arrived at hospital while on holiday in Fiji with a mysterious stab wound have appealed for urgent help as he fights for his life.
Clayton Brett was supposed to fly home from a holiday in Fiji on May 1, but instead of boarding his flight he arrived at a hospital with a stab wound to his stomach.
The 43-year-old man quickly became seriously ill: the wound became infected and sent him into septic shock.
The infection was so severe that he was placed in an induced coma in the intensive care unit of Nadi hospital.
Mr Brett’s sudden silence caused concern among his family, and his parents, stepbrother and cousin desperately tried to locate him.
His stepbrother Matthew Davis said Brett did not return home when he was supposed to and did not answer any phone calls.
Clayton Brett is hospitalized in Fiji
Desperate, the family began calling hospitals in Fiji.
“We had a bad feeling that something was going on, so we called the hospitals to see if he happened to be in one of them,” Mr. Davis said.
“They received word that he was there and, in fact, he had a stab wound to the stomach.”
As soon as they heard the news, Brett’s father, Terry, and stepmother, Jenny Davis, took the next flight to Fiji to be by his side.
When they arrived, they were told that Brett needed to stay in 24-hour intensive care for treatment.
Septic shock is a life-threatening condition that can cause dangerously low blood pressure and organ shutdown.
Mr Brett now needs dialysis because his kidneys are failing, but Nadi hospital does not have a working dialysis machine.
His parents have now had to make the crucial decision to take Mr Brett back to Australia to receive the necessary interventions via medical evacuation.
Clayton Brett is hospitalized in Fiji
Davis said Brett’s parents had managed to raise $140,000 and pay for a medical evacuation to take him back to Melbourne for treatment.
“We had to find the money and pay up front before this went ahead,” Mr Davis said.
Now he hopes that his stepbrother will take the flight home and that there will be no adverse reactions during transit.
He said: “Hopefully the flight goes well, we don’t know how it will react in the air.”
While there are concerns for Mr Brett, his half-brother said there are also serious concerns for the well-being of their parents.
Davis has created a GoFundMe to ease financial strain in what he describes as an “already stressful situation.”
“Funds raised will go towards relieving some of the financial pressure and stress on Terry and Jenny and will help pay for international hospital expenses and medical repatriation flight costs,” the fundraiser states.
Brett is expected to land in Melbourne on Friday.