‘Forever grateful’: Jesse Ramien and wife Shell’s relief as baby Teo comes home

Sharks star Jesse Ramien said he’ll be forever indebted to generous NRL fans and players after he and wife Shell were able to bring their premature baby Teo home to Australia following a traumatic birth in Bali.

Jesse Ramien and fiancee Shell have been able to bring their premature baby back to Australia.

NRL star Jesse Ramien says his family will be forever indebted to supporters who contributed to the safe return of newborn baby Teo from a Bali hospital.

The Cronulla Sharks centre has confirmed he and fiancee Shell are back in Australia after a traumatic fortnight, which included Teo needing to be resuscitated for five minutes after being born six weeks premature.

The harrowing experience led to a distraught Ramien contacting the Australian Embassy in Indonesia in a desperate attempt to source a care flight for their medically-induced baby back to Australia at an estimated cost of $130,000.

A GoFundMe page was set up by Ramien’s friend Shavaun Hunt, the partner of Cronulla Sharks teammate Royce Hunt, to help fund the costs of getting the family back to Australia.

Baby Teo back home in Australia. Pic: Instagram

Just over $59,000 was raised by a huge contingent of NRL players, as well as the general public donated funds to aid the safe journey home of Teo.

This masthead understands the Ramien’s used careflight operator NETS to transport Teo home under the close watch of doctors.

“We’re back home in Australia now and we just want to say thankyou to all our friends, family and everyone who reached out, sent a message, liked, shared, donated and done anything to help out in anyway,” Ramien said via his Instagram account.

“We coudn’t have done it without everyone and we coudn’t have got home without everyone’s support.

“A massive thankyou to all my teammates that were in Bali, who helped us out in that tough time.

“We’re forever grateful and we definitely felt the love for sure.”

As first revealed by this masthead, Shell was 33-weeks pregnant and before leaving Sydney for Cronulla player Briton Nikora’s wedding, the couple secured clearance from Shell’s Obstetrician, as well as clearance from the airline and travel insurance cover for her pregnancy.

The ordeal unfolded when Shell went into early labour two weeks ago and needed to undergo an emergency C-section.

Teo was brought home on a CareFlight. Picture: Instagram

During this time, Shell had to be put under anaesthesia, with doctors then needing to revive their newborn son for five minutes until he started breathing.

He was immediately rushed to NICU, where he remains under close watch.

“It’s been really hard to get some answers, because as every parent knows, you just want the best care for your baby, it’s certainly been scary for Shell,‘’ Ramien said.

“The unfamiliarity of the medical system here and that ability to communicate our concerns in Bali only adds to the stress and emotion around this.‘’

Some of the names that have already donated to the Go Fund Me page include NRL stars Nicho Hynes, Blayke Brailey, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Connor Tracey, Hame Sele, Sitili Tupouniua and former player Denan Kemp.