A mum and daughter’s relaxing tropical getaway quickly turned into a nightmare ordeal after they were left waiting 50 hours for medical help.
Karina Horton’s mum, Ali, was screaming in pain and becoming dehydrated.
She had dislocated and shattered her ankle when walking up a hill to see the sunset.
As they were in such a remote location, deep in the jungle, they had to wait an agonising 50 hours for help.
And the 24-year-old feared her mum’s life was on the line.
“It was so traumatic and horrifying,” Karina, who works in a hospital, told Need To Know.
“Mum was feeling nauseous [from the] pain, so [I had to] distract her for 50 hours until she got care.
“We didn’t know if we were going to get home.
“[I was told] the next 24 hours were going to be hard and that we needed to mentally prepare and be strong.”
Karina and her mum took a five-hour small boat trip from Australia to an island in Fiji.
The vessel, however, was leaking and kept breaking down.
And then, there was two days of heavy rainfall.
Luckily, on the third day, the sun came out – and the pair hoped to begin their trip.
But this is when disaster struck, as the rainfall had caused an uneven dip in the ground, which is where Ali had the accident.
Karina said: “I turned around to my mum screaming and crying with her ankle broken in two places and dislocated.
“I ran down the hill screaming.
“The staff at our hotel all came running – even the chef from the Japanese restaurant who served us the night before.”
A medical team soon arrived to take Ali to hospital; though the nightmare continued.
She said: “We went out to Fiji’s mainland hospital where I saw people in body bags, blood on the walls, and horrible injuries.
“It looked like an abandoned building.
“We were there for five hours because [my mum] was so dehydrated from vomiting.”
Luckily, they made it back home to Australia days later via helicopter and plane.
Despite the terrifying ordeal endured, they don’t regret the trip one bit.
She added: “We can’t live in fear.
“The moment running down that hill to get help forever replays in my mind.
“Cherish these moments with your family, because life is too short and you never know what can happen.”
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