Scan reveals Aussie boy's life-threatening illness after 'small fall' in Mexico
Harry Lomax, 7, tripped over a concrete block in Mexico and appeared to just wind himself, but suddenly he became seriously ill.
A seemingly "small fall” left a seven-year-old boy fighting for his life in Mexico when a morning stroll with his family ended in disaster.
Harry Lomax was out exploring with his dad and younger brothers in the Mexican resort city of Cabo San Lucas on February 5 when he tripped over a concrete block, landing on his abdomen.
“Initially it seemed as though he had done nothing more than wind himself but it quickly became apparent there was something very wrong,” family friend Rhyannon Moores said on a GoFundMe page. “He was vomiting, pale, dizzy and disoriented.”
Boy rushed in for life-saving surgery
With a “gut instinct”, his parents Danielle and Ryan Lomax rushed their son to the nearest hospital where a CT scan revealed the worst.
“His spleen had ruptured inside of him and there was about 600ml of blood in his abdomen, which is an awful lot of blood for a little boy,” his mum told News.com.au, adding that doctors found a graze under his rib cage that was 10cm long.
The seven-year-old was taken straight into theatre where he underwent a four and a half hour operation. His spleen was “beyond repair” so doctors were forced to remove it during an emergency splenectomy.
It was an exceptionally close call for the family from Perth, who’ve been living and working remotely in Mexico for the past year.
“If we didn’t get him to hospital on time, if his spleen continued to bleed into his body, he would have died,” Danielle added.
Family left with $25,000 medical bill
While Harry is now home with his family, he has a “long road ahead of him”. His parents have been left with a $25,000 medical bill because their travel insurance had expired. They were also told their trauma insurance they hold in Australia won’t pay out “as this [Harry’s condition] is not deemed ‘traumatic’ enough".
“Do I regret not double-checking the travel insurance renewal I’m sure I did in December?” his mother wrote on a GoFundMe page which has been set up to help. “S**t yes! Can I change it? Nope. Have I put a new travel insurance in place? You bloody bet!”
“Money comes and goes and it flows,” she added, “[we’re] just concentrating on getting Harry better.
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