Devastating setback for couple who cancelled wedding after buck's weekend tragedy
The man who missed his wedding when he was left in a coma following a life-threatening Bali scooter crash has suffered yet another devastating setback on his journey to recovery.
Ashley Hickman, 32, was enjoying his buck’s trip on the Indonesian holiday island when he crashed a scooter on August 31, just one week before he was due to marry his partner Tam Matthews.
He was left in a coma at a hospital in Kuta, a beach resort area on the holiday island, and once it was safe for him to travel was flown to Perth where he underwent further surgery on his brain.
Mr Hickman, originally from Queensland, woke five weeks after the accident with a long and challenging rehabilitation process ahead of him.
He was due to be discharged from Royal Perth Hospital on November 20, Ms Matthews told The Cairns Post, but sadly doctors found the titanium plate in his skull had become infected.
Instead of leaving in time for Christmas, Mr Hickman will now have to wait until next year for a new plate to be inserted, Ms Matthews said.
“We’re just waiting on medical clearance for him to be able to walk again, hoping that he’ll have the plate back in January,” she told the publication.
He currently undergoes two hours on an intravenous drip of antibiotics each day to assist in the clearing of the infection.
Mr Hickman has also lost the hearing in his left ear and almost all use of his left hand, but Ms Matthews said he had been “managing everything quite well”.
The exact cause of his crash is not clear, and while he had travel insurance, his medical bills were not covered because he was driving without an international driver’s licence.
His sister Brooke Parker established a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical expenses.
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