Save Ryan's Leg

Dear Friends and Family,

You may have heard that Ryan has had a medical emergency in Vietnam this month and are wondering what’s happened.

Ryan was unlucky enough to sustain a rather nasty exhaust burn after a minor altercation on his scooter. Thinking he could manage the injury he continued to attend work but within a week it became severely infected. This resulted in an extremely bad case of cellulitis and a really serious, fast moving infection. He had necrosis of his leg tissue where his leg was literally rotting away. 

After being admitted to hospital on his birthday, where he stayed for one week, he underwent various antibiotic treatments, other medications and procedures to try control the swelling and infection. He had daily blood tests, various ultrasounds/xrays and very painful wound cleanings/dressing changes.

As the process became too painful for Ryan and the infection was not responding to the antibiotics he was in real danger of developing sepsis. This could have resulted in him losing a foot or even worse, so we were lucky in that regard as the infection did not enter his bloodstream or spread elsewhere.

The wound in his leg literally rotted to the bone! It was at this point he was sent into surgery where they burnt off the surrounding infected tissue and sealed it within a vacuum bandage connected to a tube into a pressure pump.

Due to Ryan's asthma and low resting heart rate they refused to anaesthetise him during surgery, nor did they provide a topical anaesthetic, resulting in a very painful procedure. That combined with the other cleaning/bandage changing procedures that he has endured has made this an incredibly traumatic experience that will scar him for life beyond a visibly oversized ‘Saigon tattoo’.

With Ryan in Vietnam it was very hard for us to understand what was happening and how serious the situation was and as soon as Ryan was admitted to hospital I, Ryan’s older sister, flew to Vietnam. It was all too much for anyone to have to deal with on their own in a foreign country and we wanted to ensure Ryan was receiving the medical care that he needed to retain all his precious limbs.

His treatment, termed negative pressure therapy, resulted in a further 10 days of being bedridden. During this time where his leg was continuously connected to the pump it was constantly removing bacteria and fluids from the wound, as well as the constant pressure aiding to draw the wound closer together. As you can imagine this was very uncomfortable and debilitating.

On Tuesday (17th Sep) the pump was removed, and the Dr is happy with how his wound is progressing. There is still a MASSIVE hole but it’s healthy inside the wound. Now that Ryan is no longer connected to the vacuum, he is feeling a lot more positive. Whilst still resting he’s been making the most of his re-found mobility. He’s lucky to have an understanding boss and will be returning to work as soon as next Monday.

It is still going to be a slow road to full recovery with the possibility of skin grafts or follow up procedures but either way we will cross those bridges as we come to them. Beyond the initial trauma of his procedures, Ryan’s main concern has been his ability to return to work and stressing about how he can ever repay our mother. Ryan will still need the wound cleaned and dressings changed every 2- 3 days which will add up to be a costly process by the time he is healed.

The whole situation is a real shame as Ryan had moved to Vietnam to pursue a change of lifestyle and undertake a job working with children and young adults as an English teacher. Before the scooter incident he was absolutely loving his new job and feeling really inspired about having a positive societal impact. He can't wait to get back to the classroom!

Without travel insurance (yes, I know) the cost of this has really added up, we’ve all been sharing the expenses between us, Ryan included but he will have had a month off work by the time he can return to teaching. I myself have taken two weeks off work and none of us are made of money.

Ryan has a great deal of loving and supportive friends and it would be much appreciated if you could extend your support in the way of a donation for his birthday so that he can pay Mum back for the medical expenses.

He was initially against charity but has now warmed to the idea after seeing the reality of how much this has cost our poor mother. The amount we are seeking to raise is considerably less than the total cost of this situation. Ryan just wants to be able to cover some of the medical costs that have been incurred thus far. He is worried to leave Mum in a difficult financial situation.

The cost of all of this has not been an immediate priority. Ryan receiving the medical care he needs to keep his leg has been the single priority. Though, now that we are moving out of the crisis stage and into recovery, the cost of things are now a concern.

This GoFundMe target of $5000 does not cover any of my travel to Vietnam or the associated costs of taking care of him during the last two weeks of this ordeal. Nor does it cover Ryan’s living costs that have been affected due to loss of wages. It is purely to raise money for Ryan's medical bills, which are ongoing and transparent. Anyone is welcome to view for themselves, just ask me, I have copies of everything to date.

This is a basic breakdown of Ryan’s medical costs:
Surgery $2000
Antibiotics/Medications $500
Ultrasounds/Xrays $500
Hospital Admission X 5 nights $2000
Pre/Post Hospital Bandage Changes $1000
Total to date is about $6000

On a gruesome note, if anyone is interested to see under the bandages get in touch with Ryan or myself, you're welcome to see them, they are far too graphic and disturbing to post on here. Speaking from experience, one should be afforded forewarning of what that are about to look at.

I think the key thing that we can all learn from this experience is that our kiwi/aus immune systems do not have the naturally developed antibodies to cope with germs from tropical countries such as Vietnam and so I would desperately urge anyone who is travelling abroad, so most of you, to treat burns/cuts/grazes/infections with a serious approach. This could have happened to any of us.

Ryan’s infection was incredibly fast developing and became very serious despite taking a course of antibiotics and keeping the burn bandaged and sanitary. We’ve all had minor manageable infections that skew our understanding of how out of control they can get in a foreign environment over merely a few days!

Do all your loved ones a favour and seek medical treatment sooner than later. Also, travel insurance.

Ryan is so thankful for all the concern and well wishes that he has received from loved ones during this horrifying experience. Your love and care makes all the difference.

Much Love xxx Charlotte