Gold Coaster returns from Bali with 40 stitches to his face and more than $2500 out of pocket

AFTER a horror holiday in Bali which left 19-year-old McKenzie Weir with 40 stitches and more than $2500 out of pocket, his family have vowed never to return.

McKenzie Weir won’t be returning to Bali. Photo by Richard Gosling

AFTER a horror holiday in Bali which left 19-year-old McKenzie Weir with 40 stitches and more than $2500 out of pocket, his family have vowed never to return.

And they have a warning for anyone else visiting the tropical getaway: be safe and beware of the corruption.

McKenzie Weir with his scars after surgery.

It comes after Mr Weir and his stepbrother, Anthony Scholes, 25, travelled to Bali last month to celebrate Mr Weir’s 19th birthday.

“I had my phone pickpocketed the night before my birthday and things went south from there,” Mr Weir said.

“On the last night we were leaving dinner to drop off the moped at the hotel when I looked away (from the road) for two seconds ... and saw the taxi had come to a dead stop (in front of me).”

McKenzie Weir had to have face surgery in Bali. Photo by Richard Gosling

Although the taxi and Mr Weir had only been driving 40km an hour, Mr Weir slammed into the back of the car, smashing his helmet on the back window.

Mr Weir said it hadn’t been a huge impact due to the low speed, but the open face helmet meant his face was badly cut and “gushing blood.”

The pair quickly went to hospital in another taxi and the first taxi driver followed them into the emergency area, where he began demanding $2000 from them for damage to the car.

Believing the damage caused did not match the price, the pair initially refused to pay the full $2000.

They said the irate taxi driver threatened them, including that police would throw them in jail if they did not pay up.

McKenzie Weir and his mother Jodee Weir at home. Photo by Richard Gosling

McKenzie Weir and his mother Jodee Weir will never return to Bali. Photo by Richard Gosling

While Mr Weir hadn’t initially been fazed by the threats, the possibility of having to go to jail in a foreign country was so concerning he burst into tears.

When a Balinese police officer finally did become involved the next morning, they were told to pay the taxi driver $1900 in a “handshake agreement.”

“I couldn’t understand (Balinese),” Mr Weir said of the conversation between the police office and taxi driver.

“(The taxi driver) was throwing accusations everywhere. I’ve never been so scared.”

But even after the driver received $1900, his threats escalated and he demanded an extra $600 to cover earning losses for the previous night. The boys paid.

Mr Weir’s mother, Jodee, who was in Australia at the time, said she just wanted to get the boys home and helped as best she could by transferring the money and talking with the Australian embassy and their insurance company to get McKenzie into surgery.

McKenzie Weir after he received face surgery in Bali.

“They’ll never go back to Bali,” Ms Weir said.

McKenzie agreed: “I’ll never go back ... police are so corrupt over there,.

“It’s a beautiful country, but be careful ... be very careful.”