A New Zealand grandmother’s visit to family in Australia has turned into a nightmare after an infection left her incapacitated and unable to return home. 

The family of Sui Manase now faces a bill of up to $100,000 for a repatriation flight from the Australian outback to Auckland. 

Manase, 67, travelled to Australia in November for a family wedding and had planned to stay with her daughter’s family in rural Queensland for a month. 

But an infection led to a series of health complications which have left her in a near-vegetative state. 

“I don’t know what to do,” her daughter Sepa Sala told the Herald. “She’s trapped in her body in a country that’s not her home.” 

Sala said her mother was immunocompromised but otherwise fit, healthy and “fiercely independent”. She worked in security and lived in her own home in Mangere Bridge. 

After attending the wedding in Melbourne, Manase flew to her daughter’s home in Cloncurry, an outback town 1700km west of Brisbane. 

She was fatigued but her family put it down to her travel and busy schedule. However, over the next few days she became increasingly lethargic and delirious. 

Manase was hospitalised in Cloncurry on November 22, and doctors discovered she had a urinary tract infection (UTI). The infection led to sepsis, and she was transferred to intensive care in nearby Mt Isa then flown in an induced coma to a larger hospital in Townsville. 

Because of her reduced immunity, a common cold developed into pneumonia and a cold sore led to a form of encephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain. That has left her unable to speak, walk or feed herself. 

“We haven’t seen her for five years,” Sala said. “And … we didn’t even get a week with her. She arrived Friday and was in the hospital by the Tuesday. 

“And it was everyday common ailments. A UTI, a common cold and then a cold sore, just created a perfect storm of catastrophe for my mum.” 

Reciprocal health care between New Zealand and Australia means she is able to remain in a rehabilitation unit in Townsville for 35 days before the family will have to start paying. At that point, they will be charged around $75 a day plus accommodation costs. 

They believe her best chance of recovery is to return home, where she will be supported by her “village” in Mangere Bridge. 

Manase was immunocompromised but otherwise fit and healthy, her family said. She still worked and lived an independent life before her illness. 

Manase had travel insurance but has been told that this does not cover a repatriation flight. Her credit card insurance also did not apply to her situation. 

The family cannot get access to her bank account or finances because she is unable to hand over power of attorney, though they have engaged a lawyer to assist them. 

Sala said the NZ Consulate advised her that they could not help her mother, but that families in a similar position to them had successfully used crowdfunding to pay for a flight. 

The family believes a medically-assisted flight, with a transfer in Brisbane, will cost up to A$100,000. A GoFundMe page set up by the family has so far collected $2650 in donations. 

“We will live in cattle country, there are a lot of wealthy people here,” Sala said. “But they don’t have a spare $100,000.” 

Sala said her mother was most responsive when a family member was by her bedside, opening her eyes and communicating with raised eyebrows or a nod of the head. 

“I am grateful she is Earthside, but this is not living. I don’t want this to be the last memory that my children have of her. 

“For her wellbeing and for her recovery, she needs to come home.”