An Australian exchange student is fighting for his life after he accidentally ate rat poison, while his doctor’s father ran to his side to keep an eye on him. What started as a nosebleed turned into a horrifying cardiorespiratory collapse for student Alex Shorey while he was in Taipei, Taiwan, last Monday, landing him in ICU.
The Toowoomba student’s family believes the 24-year-old was poisoned after he ate street food while visiting the Taiwanese countryside recently. The marketing and language student started feeling bad last month. He is in Taiwan fulfilling his dream scholarship exchange trip at Tamkang University in Taiwan.
His brother Jean-Luc Shorey said Alex’s symptoms, which worsened on his birthday earlier this month, were “very strange.” “He started out as a nosebleed and blood in the urine, so at first we weren’t quite sure what it was,” Jean-Luc told the Courier Mail.
Alex Shorey Toowoomba student was poisoned
He added that his father, Stephen Shorey, a doctor in Toowoomba, flew to Taiwan as soon as Alex’s condition began to worsen. Jean-Luc said that Alex had been misdiagnosed in Taiwan with an immune disorder. “The longer he took the diagnosis, his kidney, liver, lungs and heart were damaged,” Jean-Luc said.
“Because the blood had pierced his muscles, he began to have black spots all over his body as the blood seeped into his muscles.” Once his father arrived in Taipei, he urged doctors to carry out more rigorous blood and plasma tests.
Jean-Luc said that he hated to think what would have happened if his father hadn’t flown to his brother’s bedside. Elizabeth Shorey-Kitson, who is Alex’s aunt, started a GoFundMe page to try to repatriate the young man to Australia.
She said Alex’s condition has worsened and he needs to be transferred to the Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney via a specialist flight recovery medical service.
Read Also: Who is Margaret Dale Hawke? Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, Murdering her daughter and two sons
Alex is unable to take a commercial flight home due to an anaphylactic reaction that has caused fluid to build up in his lungs. Ms. Shorey-Kitson said Alex is in Taipei Medical University Hospital after having another bad reaction to her treatment.
“The effects of the poison, Super Warfarin, are catastrophic,” she said. “The super warfarin prevents the blood from clotting, so Alex’s body bleeds both externally and internally into his muscles and organs.”
She added that the delay in diagnosis, language barriers in Taiwan, and his severe reactions to treatments have led to further complications, including “organ damage, respiratory failure, and anemia.”
After his cardiorespiratory collapse last Monday, Alex is not expected to make a quick recovery. “Medical services in Taiwan currently do not have adequate treatments or medications to stabilize his condition,” said Ms. Shorey-Kitson.
“Therefore, it is imperative that we get him home to prevent further damage to his organs and to give him the best chance of recovery.” So far, the family has raised $129,680 as of Friday after the GoFundMe page launched two days ago.
They hope to reach their goal of $172,000 which will pay for intensive medical equipment, flights, and ongoing medical rehabilitation in Australia.
Note: We strive to generate original and high-quality articles. Content posted on Wikibious.com may not be republished, copied, or redistributed, in whole or in part, without acknowledgment or permission. This article is for educational purposes only and the information mentioned here may not be 100% correct. We are collecting information from our sources, if you have any problem with the item, you can tell us. Follow us on Facebook.