Quad bike crash victim recalls moment she 'somersaulted' on Greek island
Just over a week ago, Ms Massey lay alone with no privacy and a difficult language barrier in a Greek public hospital, unsure about why her travel insurance had denied her claim.
"After your story ran, my husband received a phone call from the insurance company saying they had reassessed my claim and they said it had been approved," she told ACM's Bega District News.
"I was waiting for it in writing as I wasn't going to get excited until I had it in writing, and that came."
Since then, the Merimbula resident's son Aaron Reid had raced to be by her side.
He had taken a last-minute flight from Sydney with a wheelchair among his luggage, prepared to bring her home.
Prior to Narelle's emergency stay, she had been enjoying an overseas holiday with her sister Pam, when the pair decided to go on a quad biking tour.
Sadly, the unthinkable occurred, and the sisters crashed, resulting in numerous injuries.
Narelle sustained a punctured lung, splenic hematoma, fractured spine, broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
"I absolutely remember it. It went in slow motion. We were coming around a left-hand bend, my sister was driving," the 62-year-old recalled.
"The bend wasn't like we have in Australia, and it was a bit sharper than Pam thought, and so she went to correct herself, and the front wheel came up, and we hit gravel.
"We slid into the stone wall. Pam went over the handlebars and the stone wall, and I flew over the top of her and somersaulted, landing in a little grass patch with stones around."
The Far South Coast woman was airlifted from Naxos, a Greek island in the South Aegean, to Athens for treatment.
She had been in the hospital for two weeks when she spoke to ACM's Bega District News on July 14.
"The first week was horrendous to say the least," Ms Massey said.
She described her hospital room as being from the 1970s.
"There's nothing modern. There are no curtains around to separate people. The window in the room is broken. It's 37 degrees outside and [it feels like] it's 90 in here," Ms Massey said.
"I am starting to improve a bit, health-wise, but not many people speak English fluently, so I have to rely on other people to tell me what they've said.
"They are looking at transferring me to a physiotherapy facility rather than being in the hospital, because of the chance of getting an infection, and they don't want that to happen.
"I've probably got another three weeks. They're saying August 9 is when I will be clear to fly."
When Narelle returns to Sydney, she said she will have surgery on her pelvis and hip.
Aaron said he wouldn't be leaving her until he could bring her back home.
"When I first spoke to her, she said, 'Bring me home'. That's my job. If she asks, I'm doing it," he said.
A GoFundMe was organised to help Narelle, Aaron and Pam with miscellaneous incidental costs until they are all home.
Those wishing to donate can find the fundraiser here.
Through intermittent puffs of oxygen, Narelle Massey recalls how she somersaulted during a serious quad bike crash that disrupted her travel plans.
Just over a week ago, Ms Massey lay alone with no privacy and a difficult language barrier in a Greek public hospital, unsure about why her travel insurance had denied her claim.
"After your story ran, my husband received a phone call from the insurance company saying they had reassessed my claim and they said it had been approved," she told ACM's Bega District News.
"I was waiting for it in writing as I wasn't going to get excited until I had it in writing, and that came."
Since then, the Merimbula resident's son Aaron Reid had raced to be by her side.
He had taken a last-minute flight from Sydney with a wheelchair among his luggage, prepared to bring her home.
Prior to Narelle's emergency stay, she had been enjoying an overseas holiday with her sister Pam, when the pair decided to go on a quad biking tour.
Sadly, the unthinkable occurred, and the sisters crashed, resulting in numerous injuries.
Narelle sustained a punctured lung, splenic hematoma, fractured spine, broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
"I absolutely remember it. It went in slow motion. We were coming around a left-hand bend, my sister was driving," the 62-year-old recalled.
"The bend wasn't like we have in Australia, and it was a bit sharper than Pam thought, and so she went to correct herself, and the front wheel came up, and we hit gravel.
"We slid into the stone wall. Pam went over the handlebars and the stone wall, and I flew over the top of her and somersaulted, landing in a little grass patch with stones around."
The Far South Coast woman was airlifted from Naxos, a Greek island in the South Aegean, to Athens for treatment.
She had been in the hospital for two weeks when she spoke to ACM's Bega District News on July 14.
"The first week was horrendous to say the least," Ms Massey said.
She described her hospital room as being from the 1970s.
"There's nothing modern. There are no curtains around to separate people. The window in the room is broken. It's 37 degrees outside and [it feels like] it's 90 in here," Ms Massey said.
"I am starting to improve a bit, health-wise, but not many people speak English fluently, so I have to rely on other people to tell me what they've said.
"They are looking at transferring me to a physiotherapy facility rather than being in the hospital, because of the chance of getting an infection, and they don't want that to happen.
"I've probably got another three weeks. They're saying August 9 is when I will be clear to fly."
When Narelle returns to Sydney, she said she will have surgery on her pelvis and hip.
Aaron said he wouldn't be leaving her until he could bring her back home.
"When I first spoke to her, she said, 'Bring me home'. That's my job. If she asks, I'm doing it," he said.
A GoFundMe was organised to help Narelle, Aaron and Pam with miscellaneous incidental costs until they are all home.
Those wishing to donate can find the fundraiser here.
Through intermittent puffs of oxygen, Narelle Massey recalls how she somersaulted during a serious quad bike crash that disrupted her travel plans.
Just over a week ago, Ms Massey lay alone with no privacy and a difficult language barrier in a Greek public hospital, unsure about why her travel insurance had denied her claim.
"After your story ran, my husband received a phone call from the insurance company saying they had reassessed my claim and they said it had been approved," she told ACM's Bega District News.
"I was waiting for it in writing as I wasn't going to get excited until I had it in writing, and that came."
Since then, the Merimbula resident's son Aaron Reid had raced to be by her side.
He had taken a last-minute flight from Sydney with a wheelchair among his luggage, prepared to bring her home.
Prior to Narelle's emergency stay, she had been enjoying an overseas holiday with her sister Pam, when the pair decided to go on a quad biking tour.
Sadly, the unthinkable occurred, and the sisters crashed, resulting in numerous injuries.
Narelle sustained a punctured lung, splenic hematoma, fractured spine, broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
"I absolutely remember it. It went in slow motion. We were coming around a left-hand bend, my sister was driving," the 62-year-old recalled.
"The bend wasn't like we have in Australia, and it was a bit sharper than Pam thought, and so she went to correct herself, and the front wheel came up, and we hit gravel.
"We slid into the stone wall. Pam went over the handlebars and the stone wall, and I flew over the top of her and somersaulted, landing in a little grass patch with stones around."
The Far South Coast woman was airlifted from Naxos, a Greek island in the South Aegean, to Athens for treatment.
She had been in the hospital for two weeks when she spoke to ACM's Bega District News on July 14.
"The first week was horrendous to say the least," Ms Massey said.
She described her hospital room as being from the 1970s.
"There's nothing modern. There are no curtains around to separate people. The window in the room is broken. It's 37 degrees outside and [it feels like] it's 90 in here," Ms Massey said.
"I am starting to improve a bit, health-wise, but not many people speak English fluently, so I have to rely on other people to tell me what they've said.
"They are looking at transferring me to a physiotherapy facility rather than being in the hospital, because of the chance of getting an infection, and they don't want that to happen.
"I've probably got another three weeks. They're saying August 9 is when I will be clear to fly."
When Narelle returns to Sydney, she said she will have surgery on her pelvis and hip.
Aaron said he wouldn't be leaving her until he could bring her back home.
"When I first spoke to her, she said, 'Bring me home'. That's my job. If she asks, I'm doing it," he said.
A GoFundMe was organised to help Narelle, Aaron and Pam with miscellaneous incidental costs until they are all home.
Those wishing to donate can find the fundraiser here.
Through intermittent puffs of oxygen, Narelle Massey recalls how she somersaulted during a serious quad bike crash that disrupted her travel plans.
Just over a week ago, Ms Massey lay alone with no privacy and a difficult language barrier in a Greek public hospital, unsure about why her travel insurance had denied her claim.
"After your story ran, my husband received a phone call from the insurance company saying they had reassessed my claim and they said it had been approved," she told ACM's Bega District News.
"I was waiting for it in writing as I wasn't going to get excited until I had it in writing, and that came."
Since then, the Merimbula resident's son Aaron Reid had raced to be by her side.
He had taken a last-minute flight from Sydney with a wheelchair among his luggage, prepared to bring her home.
Prior to Narelle's emergency stay, she had been enjoying an overseas holiday with her sister Pam, when the pair decided to go on a quad biking tour.
Sadly, the unthinkable occurred, and the sisters crashed, resulting in numerous injuries.
Narelle sustained a punctured lung, splenic hematoma, fractured spine, broken ribs and a broken pelvis.
"I absolutely remember it. It went in slow motion. We were coming around a left-hand bend, my sister was driving," the 62-year-old recalled.
"The bend wasn't like we have in Australia, and it was a bit sharper than Pam thought, and so she went to correct herself, and the front wheel came up, and we hit gravel.
"We slid into the stone wall. Pam went over the handlebars and the stone wall, and I flew over the top of her and somersaulted, landing in a little grass patch with stones around."
The Far South Coast woman was airlifted from Naxos, a Greek island in the South Aegean, to Athens for treatment.
She had been in the hospital for two weeks when she spoke to ACM's Bega District News on July 14.
"The first week was horrendous to say the least," Ms Massey said.
She described her hospital room as being from the 1970s.
"There's nothing modern. There are no curtains around to separate people. The window in the room is broken. It's 37 degrees outside and [it feels like] it's 90 in here," Ms Massey said.
"I am starting to improve a bit, health-wise, but not many people speak English fluently, so I have to rely on other people to tell me what they've said.
"They are looking at transferring me to a physiotherapy facility rather than being in the hospital, because of the chance of getting an infection, and they don't want that to happen.
"I've probably got another three weeks. They're saying August 9 is when I will be clear to fly."
When Narelle returns to Sydney, she said she will have surgery on her pelvis and hip.
Aaron said he wouldn't be leaving her until he could bring her back home.
"When I first spoke to her, she said, 'Bring me home'. That's my job. If she asks, I'm doing it," he said.
A GoFundMe was organised to help Narelle, Aaron and Pam with miscellaneous incidental costs until they are all home.
Those wishing to donate can find the fundraiser here.
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