Sydney 8yo split head open ‘like an egg’ after falling from Bali diving board

“She hit the ground and didn’t move,” said her sister Hazel. “I couldn’t get out of the water quick enough.”

Splashing in the pool with her older sister, seven-year-old Aliyah was enjoying her tropical holiday in Bali with her loving family. 

The North Sydney child jumped in the water at the Mrs Sippy pool and bar with her dad when she decided to dive into the water herself. 

She climbed the diving board, but before she could make the leap, she fell, plunging six metres below and crashing into a concrete platform below. 

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Aliyah fell six metres at the Bali pool. Source: ACA

“Her head was like a boiled egg in two fragments”

“They said go, and I was about to jump, then they said actually don't go. So I hung on to the railing, and I swung to the edge, and I fell,” the little girl told A Current Affair. 

If she hadn’t held the nearby rope, her injuries may have been far worse, if not fatal. 

“She hit the round and didn’t move,” said her sister Hazel, who was watching in the pool. “I couldn’t get out of the water quick enough.”

She was rushed to a Denpasar hospital, where surgeons operated on her twice to avoid immense swelling and pressure on her brain. 

Her mum Fergil, who was not in Bali during the accident, said her “body just gave way” when she heard the news of her daughter’s condition. 

Describing the horrific injuries, she said the little girl’s head was “like a boiled egg in two fragments...the shell had just cracked.” 

Once the surgery was complete, she was flown to Perth Children’s Hospital in a coma, where surgeons inserted 16 titanium plates into her head, which are “holding her skull together.” 

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The 8yo has made a remarkable recovery, but has a long road ahead of her. Source: ACA

Titanium poles are "holding [8yo's] skull together"

It’s been a year since the tragic incident, and Aliyah has made an incredible recovery. 

The site where doctors stitched up her skull has regrown its hair, but it can’t hide the trauma that the fall left behind.  

The now-eight-year-old suffers from short-term memory loss and will likely require further surgeries and specialist appointments down the road as she recovers from the horrific injury. 

She also has trouble focusing in class and will likely need extra education tutoring to keep her on track with her peers. 

“The memory loss is the biggest part, the biggest component to help her learn, so we just don't know what the future looks like,” her mum said. “It’s going to be a long, long road ahead.” 

Mum Fergil has been desperately trying to contact Mrs Sippy Bali to discuss compensation, but these attempts have failed. 

“There's no correspondence, there's no progress, it's all come to a standstill,” she said. 

ACA approached the Sydney-based owner of Mrs Sippy, Ben May, about the situation. 

“I consider myself a pretty good corporate citizen, so this is slightly horrific for me, and I’m not doubting it’s even more horrific for the family involved,” he said before committing to helping the family. 

He claimed the family’s Bali-based legal team were yet to respond to requests for documents from Mrs Sippy’s insurer.

Originally published as Sydney 8yo split head open ‘like an egg’ after falling from Bali diving board