Australian teenager left with horrific head injuries after gruesome Thailand boating accident

News.com.au

a day ago

An Australian teenager on a family holiday in Thailand is lucky to be alive after a snorkelling experience near popular Phi Phi Island went horrifically wrong.
13-year-old Kiah Bell-Parsons and her family had gone to Thailand on a dream holiday and embarked on a snorkelling tour when tragedy happened in the water.
Jumping on board the tour boat with her mother, Nat, and younger sister Kelsey, the trio were told it was safe to enter the water after visiting several bays in the area to find the perfect spot to swim.
Speaking to news.com.au, longtime family friend Gabrielle Brennan — who has been in extensive contact with family — said that while Kiah's mother Nat was still on board the boat, the unthinkable happened to her daughter.
'The boat let them out to snorkel, and while I don't know Phi Phi island, where she was let out to snorkel was very busy with boats,' Ms Brennan said.
'Nat was still on the boat...and during that time, another boat reversed over Kiah while she was snorkelling.
'Because the company had said 'yes, it's OK to snorkel', Nat assumed it was safe and let the girls go into the water. It was close to the shore, and she is now frustrated that nobody was monitoring tourists swimming while the boat was anchored.'
Ms Brennan said as the boat hit Kiah, blood filled the water.
The teenager received a fractured skull, a broken eye socket and a laceration that goes straight through the centre of her face.
'There was a lot of commotion...a lot of tourists in there swimming,' Ms Brennan said.
'Kiah was face down in the water and there was just so much blood. At that point, Nat thought she [Kiah] was dead.
'They [fellow swimmers] lifted Kiah into the boat...and got everyone's towels onto her face.'
Kiah, who after the accident was in and out of consciousness, was taken to a medical centre on Phi Phi island where temporary stitches were sewn into her face. Then, the trio were put onto another boat headed to the mainland.
'She had two fractures in her skull and a broken eye socket bouncing on this boat,' she said of the journey from Phi Phi island to Phuket on Thailand's mainland.
'She was vomiting out blood, and Kiah was so tight into the stretcher she couldn't move so was freaking out.'
Upon arrival to the mainland, Ms Brennan said the family were first taken to a public hospital where little English was spoken, before Nat requested for Kiah to go to a private hospital for treatment.
'Eventually, they transferred her to the private hospital, but they wouldn't do anything until there was assurance someone would pay,' Ms Brennan explained.
'Nat was frantically finding her travel insurance, and said they probably wouldn't have operated without it.'
Ms Brennan, who started a GoFundMe to support Kiah's family while she receives continued treatment in Thailand, said she was shocked when the contributions hit almost $27,000 of the $30,000 target.
'Kiah is over there now and will be over there for quite a while until she's given clearance,' she explained.
'Kiah is very fortunate that the hospital she is at do a lot of plastics, so a lot of people go to that hospital for plastic surgeries and things. So she's been very fortunate that they have done a very good job.'
Kiah's recovery will likely be a long one, and that the broken eye socket will not be properly operated on until she returns to Sydney.
'I think she still has swelling on the brain and an air pocket on the brain so she's not able to fly,' Ms Brennan said.
'She will be there until she gets clearance.'
Ms Brennan said what was supposed to be a dream trip for the family has turned into a living nightmare.
'We had been hearing about the holiday for maybe four months … this was going to be the highlight of their life,' Ms Brennan said.
'Every time we were at netball she'd be talking about it and how excited they were and so needed a family trip. They saved and saved and were just so excited to have some time away.'
Ms Brennan said that the family do feel a little 'in the dark' about Kiah's condition, and what the next steps for the teenager look like.
'She hasn't been given much advice,' Ms Brennan said.
'I feel there needs to be more accountability and awareness about the safety. The boating company that hit her said they're not taking any liability. Her biggest concern now is just getting home.'
To donate to Kiah, a GoFundMe page has been set up on behalf of the family.