A glamorous Australian woman was left fighting for her life after she kissed a man on top of a cliff and then plunged 11 meters to the bottom in Croatia.
Ella Cutler, 25, was with a 34-year-old man near the walls of the old city of Pile in Dubrovnik in the early hours of August 26 when they collapsed.
Police confirmed the two men were leaning against the wall kissing and were believed to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time.
Ms Cutler suffered a series of serious injuries in the fall, including fractures to her skull, spine, limbs, 12 broken ribs and punctured lungs.
She was taken to hospital in critical condition and remains in a coma. The man was treated for a broken leg and is recovering.
Ms Cutler’s family in Western Australia are struggling to raise the funds to bring her home, with the total cost reaching $500,000.
This 25-year-old young man is a police officer who had the vacation of his life before it was tragically interrupted.
One of Ms. Cutler’s three brothers, Joshua, started a GoFundMe to help pay the hefty medical bill associated with Ella’s repatriation to Western Australia.
Ella Cutler, 25, was with a 34-year-old man near the walls of the old city of Pile in Dubrovnik in the early hours of August 26 when they collapsed.
“Anyone who knows her will tell you about her calm, gentle energy, her love of furry creatures large and small, her selflessness in helping people, and her ability to make everyone she meets feel special,” he said.
“We can only imagine how scared she would be if she knew the full extent of her injuries, and we can’t even begin to express how scared we are for her and how important he is to her to go home.
“She has too much left to live for, too many people to help and too much love to give for this chapter to end like this. She has a long road ahead and she will need all the help she can get. Doctors , family, friends, colleagues and you.
“The world doesn’t have enough Ella and it needs her.”
Ms Cutler’s medical costs have already reached $100,000, and an air ambulance to bring her back to Australia will cost another $400,000.
“She will still need several months of care, multiple surgeries and months of physical rehabilitation before she can impact the world like she once did,” her brother wrote.
“She can’t do this alone, and neither can we.”
Ms Cutler is now in an induced coma after suffering fractures to her skull, spine, limbs and ribs.
The area where the couple were spending a night before the tragic accident is above (left) on the waterfront of the Croatian port of Dubrovnik, which is a tourist mecca in summer, especially for Australians.
Mr Cutler thanked the doctors and nurses who cared for his sister during her time abroad, with the officer now receiving treatment at a larger hospital with better facilities.
The fundraiser has so far raised more than $96,000 in donations.
The wall from which It is believed that the couple fell is a popular selfie spot and is located between two fortresses, Lovrijenac and Bokar.
Andrijana Biskup of the Dubrovnik-Neretva police confirmed that the couple had been hugging or kissing at the time of the fall and said alcohol may have played a role.
The local hospital confirmed that breath tests revealed the man had a blood alcohol level of 0.2 – four times the Australian legal driving limit – while the woman had a level of 0.3, or six times the legal driving limit.
At the time of the accident, the couple were reportedly spending an evening in Dubrovnik’s Old Town, which is packed with tourists every summer.
