Aussie’s horror $2000-a-day China medical bill

An Australian couple on holiday in China had their trip turned upside down when things took an unexpected turn, resulting in mounting medical costs.

The family of an Australian man who suffered a heart attack while on holiday in China is desperately trying to raise funds for his mounting medical costs.

David Crowley and his wife Penelope were on a three-week trip to China when things took an unexpected during their long-awaited vacation.

The pair’s travel plans were pushed back due to Covid, and with China on their bucket-list, they were finally able to head over earlier this month. The country reopened its borders to international visitors last year after three years of Covid closure.

The day before David Crowley suffered a heart attack in China.

While on a group tour of Guilin, a city in southern China known for its dramatic landscape of limestone karst hills, Mr Crowley started to feel unwell.

The couple, from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, put it down to a chesty cold and grabbed some cold and flu tablets from a near-by pharmacy.

“Mum mentioned there was a few steps involved and normally dad would be all for getting his steps in on holiday, but he was quite slow getting up the stairs,” Liam Cowley, the couple’s son told news.com.au.

“Mum thought he had a chest infection more than anything else.”

David, 64, was rushed to hospital where he was placed into an included coma.

However, the following morning on March 11, the 64-year-old could not move, breathe and was completely pale.

Mrs Crowley ran down to their accommodation’s reception desk asking for help. An ambulance came within 10 minutes and rushed Mr Crowley to Guilin People’s Hospital – just 1km from their hotel, in the Xiangshan District.

It was revealed he suffered a heart attack. He was placed into an induced coma and underwent surgery to have two stents inserted.

He has since woken from his coma and is breathing on his own but is expected to remain in hospital for another fortnight.

“He was immediately incubated and sedated – and rushed into surgery. His oxygen levels were so low because his wasn’t pumping enough blood so they had to insert the stents and stabilise him.”

Liam, who is back home in Victoria, said receiving a message from his mum advising him that his father was critically unwell in hospital in a foreign country was terrifying.

“Then knowing that my mother was alone, with a clear language barrier struggling to understand what had happened to her husband of 38 years was heartbreaking.”

“In the first two days of dad being in ICU, mum was slapped with a $11,000 bill for the ambulance trip and surgery on Tuesday.

“It’s averaging about $2000 a day. They just put the eftpos machine in front of Mum when she gets in.”

The couple from Victoria were exploring Guilin, a city in southern China known for its dramatic landscape of limestone karst hills, when things took a terrifying turn. Picture: iStock

Unfortunately, insurance won’t cover it as, according to Liam, the provider deemed it as a “pre-existing medical condition”, forfeiting any claiming rights.

In 2023, after his brother had a heart attack, Mr Crowley had two stents inserted as a precautionary and Liam said the provider based its conclusion on this.

Meanwhile, Liam is currently in the process of trying to obtain a full refund from Singapore Airlines for his parents’ partially flown booking. He was told the fare used was $3600 and they would be getting $21 per passenger plus $165.81 in taxes, totalling $186.81 each.

Liam, who has started a GoFundMe to help with the escalating costs, has already raised $15,000.

“It has surpassed my expectations,” he said, adding he’s incredibly grateful.

As of March 15, Mr Crowley woke up from his induced coma and proceeds to breathe on his own.

But, Liam said there’s still a long road to recovery as the family wait for the green light to bring him home.

“Although dad is improving everyday, we are now just going day by day hoping to see [further] improvement,” Liam explained.

“We have been told he will require further surgery, either in China with a massive cost, or ideally he may improve enough we can have me flown home for further follow-ups.”

He said doctors confirmed his dad suffered a heart attack resulting in the initial diagnosis of “heart failure”.

“Time frames aren’t known but he is expecting to remain in this hospital for another fortnight.”