Silk Cartel launches after near deadly surfing accident in Bali
A Sunshine Coast family risked everything for a dream of starting a fashion label overseas, but on the day they were to launch everything came crashing down. Read how they defied adversity.
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A Sunshine Coast mum has revealed how she navigated the trauma of her husband’s near death experience after a horror surfing accident while launching her dream business.
Mooloolaba woman Sarah Coupe had toyed with opening a fashion business for more than two decades after years of struggling to find clothes she genuinely liked.
When her husband Ehrin eventually gave up his job in flooring, the couple took a chance and temporarily moved to Uluwatu, Bali, with their young son to open Silk Cartel – a women’s silk clothing brand made from ethically sourced material and handmade in Bali.
But the day the business was to launch, Mr Coupe, an experienced surfer, fell face first into shallow reef in a freak surfing incident and nearly died as a result of his injuries.
He required emergency plastic surgery while in Bali and was later flown to Brisbane.
At the time, Mrs Coupe credited a fellow Australian man, a doctor, with saving her husband’s life after he used lifesaving bandages to stop the bleeding; but she had since discovered a woman had fearlessly raced home and brought the bandages back.
Without it, Mr Coupe had mere minutes to live.
Mrs Coupe said she eventually met her husband’s hero, and the two women were now great friends.
Mr Coupe made a full recovery; but a traumatised Mrs Coupe stayed in Uluwatu with their young son to finish their dream, spurred on by her husband’s unwavering encouragement.
“Before he’d even had surgery … he said ‘you’d better still be launching … I don’t want my accident to cost us everything we worked for’,” she said.
“If I didn’t go ahead with it, (I knew) he would feel then not only was he facing the road ahead for him, he was also taking responsibility for essentially, probably ruining everything we worked hard for.
“He was feeling massive amounts of guilt; he kept saying ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry my stupid accident has affected everything’.”
The accident came as the couple had exhausted all their money and resources, Mrs Coupe said, and the only thing they had left to do was launch the website and go live on the business.
Mrs Couple said she was “struggling pretty badly” with chronic anxiety and stress after the traumatic incident, but pushed on.
With the help of a freelance web designer, Silk Cartel officially launched on September 29, 2022. Within 24 hours of launching, the business had its first order and has been booming ever since.
Mr Coupe was later reunited with his wife and young son, and the family plan to return to the Sunshine Coast in late-October.
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