Australian man injured in horror hit-and-run in Bali
Horrific images have been shared showing gruesome injuries suffered by an Australian man in a hit-run incident in Bali. WARNING: Graphic
WARNING: Graphic
An Australian man has suffered horrific injuries during what is understood to have been a hit-and-run collision in Bali.
Benji Ward sustained a serious head injury and broke four bones, with his tibia and fibula in one leg breaking “out of the skin”, according to friend Bailey Scarlett.
The Melbourne woman started a fundraiser for Mr Ward, which has raised more than $26,000 in 24 hours, to pay for his hospital bills and help him financially while not being able to work.
She also hopes the funds will help bring Mr Ward home to Australia when he can travel.
“Unfortunately insurance doesn’t cover these sorts of accidents,” Ms Scarlett wrote on the page.
Mr Ward’s friends back home were desperately trying to help locate blood donors in Bali for a transfusion on Thursday before a “life saving surgery”.
From his hospital bed after the surgery on Thursday night, Mr Ward thanked everyone for their support in a video message posted to social media.
“Surgery went well, I’ve got another surgery in three weeks. I’ve got a halo on at the moment and there’s no bleeding on the brain, all the blood from my head stopped, so it’s all looking positive,” he said.
Mr Ward, who was on a hired motorbike, said he understood the same driver hit and injured another man on the same night.
Ms Scarlett is calling on people to come forward that may have seen a Russian man driving a car around the Seminyak restaurant Strawberry Fields about 2am on Thursday.
News.com.au has reached out to Ms Scarlett for further comment.
Australian government data obtained by news.com.au shows the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade managed 401 consular cases in Bali in the 2022-23 financial year.
About 28 per cent of those cases (114) were Australians needing help because they had an illness or were hospitalised.
And those statistics only reflect Australians who sought assistance from DFAT.
In almost 7 per cent (28) of the 401 cases someone was arrested and about 26 per cent (107) of cases involved a death.
Of all the Aussie cases about two thirds were male.
Indonesia is the second most popular overseas destination for Australian travellers.