The family of a young Queensland university student who accidentally ingested rat poison while on exchange in Taiwan have confirmed he has secured a flight back to Australia.
Alex Shorey has been fighting for his life after consuming superwarfarin just before Easter while completing an exchange program at Taipei’s Tamkang University.
His family have been attempting to secure a flight home for the 24-year-old student, but have faced difficulty as his condition deteriorated.
They have now confirmed a medical charter has been booked to send the Toowoomba local back to Australia, where he will fly into the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
A specialist toxicology team at the hospital, where he will receive further treatment, is on standby for his arrival.
A GoFundMe page was set up by his aunt Elizabeth Shorey-Kitson, which managed to secure an enormous $208,682 before it was closed down.
The family launched the page to try and raise the $170,000 quoted to fly him home on a medical charter flight.
She said they had been “overwhelmed and humbled” by the more than 3000 donations the page had received since its inception.
“We are so overwhelmed and humbled by the amount of love, support and kindness we have received, and thanks to the generosity of you all, our journey to bring Alex home is now underway,” Ms Shorey-Kitson wrote.
“From the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU. We don’t really have the right words to express our immense gratitude, but please know how much your kindness and care have helped us in so many ways.
“It was huge 24/36 hours and now to have reached our goal and to have Alex booked on a plane has left us in tears of joy. We still can’t quite believe it!”
She confirmed any surplus funds from the GoFundMe would be paid forward through a donation to the Medical Rescue team to fund and support others who need their support.
Ms Shorey-Kitson said the student had been in and out of hospital in Taiwan since Good Friday, and had been admitted to ICU after going into hypovolemic shock on the 18th of April.
She said medical services in Taiwan were unable to properly care for Shorey, as they lacked the right treatments or drugs to stabilise his condition.
His parents flew to Taiwan earlier in the month to be with him as he underwent care at Taipei Medical University Hospital and will be accompanying him on the flight home.
The superwarfarin poisoning has resulted in organ damage, respiratory failure and anaemia for the young student, who is not expected to “recover quickly” from the incident.
It remains unknown how he ingested the poison.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has been contacted for comment.
Source: skynews.com.au
