An Australian expat living in Bali had to get medevaced after he went into cardiac arrest during a botched hernia operation.
Steven Didmon went in to Siloam Hospital in Kuta for a ‘simple hernia operation’ on July 12, but things went terribly wrong.
An epidural anesthetic used during surgery caused the 39-year-old, father of two, to go into cardiac arrest, his family says.
It took a team of doctors and support staff two hours of administering CPR to finally stabilize the man. He then was on life support for a week and a half, undergoing daily hemodialysis since his kidneys weren’t functioning properly and he was hooked up to a ventilator since there was a problem with his lungs, according to the Aussie’s father, Jeffrey Didmon.
Didmon will still need ongoing dialysis and further rehabilitation to help him gain back limb functions due to his length of time in the ICU, says Jeffrey.
Coconuts Bali has approached Siloam Hospital for comment.
Uninsured and faced with thousands of dollars in medical expenses at Siloam—plus the $47,500 cost of sending Didmon home to Perth on medevac—Jeffrey took to crowdfunding site GoFundMe to plea for help.
“My sons wife Lovia has negotiated with the hospital and we have received a discount of 30K aud leaving us with a 50K aud bill, the hospital wants full payment of the 50K bill before Steven can be released,” Jeffrey wrote on July 23.
It’s common in Bali for hospitals to refuse release of patients until outstanding bills are paid or proof of insurance is submitted.
As of Monday, just over $31,000 has been raised of the page’s $75,000 goal.
An update was posted to Didmon’s GoFundMe page on Sunday night, addressed to “family, friends and compassionate humans,” saying that the Aussie got 80 percent of the bill paid and was able to get a release certificate, allowing for the air ambulance to depart on Sunday morning.
“We had to pay $44,000 just to release him,” Didmon’s sister, Fiona Vojnovic, told Australia’s 7News.
“We’ve still got another $7000 owing to the hospital.
“My dad used his life savings.”
Nonetheless, the family maintains it was worth it to get Didmon home.
“Thank you all for the support and kind words and ease help as much as you can to reach our goal or spread the word,” Jeffrey wrote, thanking web donors.
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