The family of an Australian tourist left fighting for his life in Fiji say they are nervously waiting for their loved one to return home this week on a medical flight.
Clayton Brett, 43, 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.
Now his family faces an anxious wait with Brett expected to land in Melbourne on a $140,000 medevac flight on Friday.
His stepbrother, Matthew Davis, said he hopes his brother makes the flight home and that there are no adverse reactions in transit.
“Hopefully the flight goes well, we don’t know how it will react in the air,” he said.
Clayton Brett, 43, was supposed to fly home from a vacation in Fiji on May 1, but instead of boarding his flight, he arrived at a hospital with a stab wound to his stomach.
Brett quickly became seriously ill and the wound became infected and went 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.
Davis said Brett did not return home when he was supposed to and did not answer any phone calls.
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 Clayton had to remain in 24-hour intensive care for treatment.
Septic shock is a life-threatening condition that can cause dangerously low blood pressure and organ shutdown.
Clayton now needs dialysis because his kidneys are failing, but Nadi hospital does not have a working dialysis machine.
Brett (pictured) quickly became seriously ill, the wound becoming infected and going into septic shock.
His parents have now had to make the crucial decision to take Clayton back to Australia to receive the necessary interventions via medical evacuation.
Davis said Clayton’s parents had managed to raise $140,000 and pay for a medical evacuation flight to bring Clayton back to Melbourne for treatment.
“We had to find the money and pay up front before this went ahead,” Mr Davis said.
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.
