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UPDATE: We did it. ANABEL IS COMING HOME!
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou to everyone. (See update below)
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Hi, our names are Alana and Tristan, and it is with heavy hearts that we are reaching out for your help as our family faces a crisis that has shaken us deeply. Our dearest mum Anabel - wife of 38 years to Darrel, mother-in-law to Christian and Jodie, Lolabel (grandmother) to Freddie and Timmie, and one of the bravest people we know - is currently in the Intensive Care Unit in a hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany, and we need your help to get her home to Australia as soon as possible.
What happened?
Over a week ago, Mum was with Dad on a flight to the UK to visit her family when the unthinkable happened…
Mum started complaining about her head exploding with pain. Dad tried to comfort her, but suddenly she couldn’t feel her arm or her leg. Her speech started slurring. As Dad frantically tried to contact a stewardess and keep Mum from slipping into unconsciousness, Mum was bleeding into her brain.
Time was of the essence, and with minimal other options, the plane was diverted to Frankfurt, Germany, for an emergency landing. Mum was taken to a hospital in Wiesbaden to receive urgent medical care, and placed into an induced coma.
She has been in the Intensive Care Unit ever since, watched over by an extraordinary medical team and her close family. She is no longer in an induced coma, but has not yet regained consciousness, and it is a very long road to recovery. But there is hope. A slightly opened eyelid, a deliberately twitched toe, tears in the corner of her eye.
Why do we need your help?
Mum, with her many health conditions and extensive past medical history, has found it impossible to get travel insurance in recent years. She thought she was okay travelling to the UK, where she would be covered (under the UK-Australia Reciprocal Health Care Agreement), but finds herself in Germany, where the hospital bills are accumulating to the tune of $7000+ per day. While the healthcare system in Germany is extraordinary, we are far away from our support networks in Australia. We are not legally allowed to, nor can we afford to, stay here indefinitely.
Mum's medical team believes she may soon be stable enough to travel, but the journey requires complex medical support in an Air Ambulance, including specialised equipment and a dedicated team to help keep her safe every step of the way. Unfortunately, Mum was not covered for medical repatriation, and the cost is far beyond what we can manage on our own. As a family, we are trying to find almost $600,000 AUD to cover these costs to get her home to Australia. Some incredible generosity from close family and friends has loaned us some of the funds, but we are still a long way from our goal.
In her lifetime, mum has been through four major heart operations and numerous other surgeries. She has fought her way back to health every time through her conviction, faith, and the love and support of her family. She is a gentle soul who has done nothing to deserve the hardships of her life, but she has faced them with a quiet yet fierce determination, and always remained humble, kind, supportive, and generous to a fault. She has never wanted to put her burdens onto others, yet has always been willing to help others with theirs. Meanwhile, our father Darrel - this man who has supported Anabel for forty years, who is consistently dedicated and loyal, remaining by her side through so many long days and nights of recovery and rehab - has not once given up hope beside her bedside, whilst simultaneously being faced with the likelihood of their life savings being wiped out in an instant.
Our primary goal for this GoFundMe is to get Mum home to Australia. However, if we surpass this goal, any additional funds would be gratefully received and used to help contribute to her hospital and treatment costs in Germany, and her ongoing medical bills.
Any donation, no matter the size, gets us closer to bringing Mum home, closer to the love and support she needs on the long road to recovery.
We are beyond grateful for your kindness, your compassion, and your support during this incredibly difficult time.
From our family to yours, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
With love and gratitude,
Alana and Tristan
(On behalf of the Kearns family)
