Uninsured mother of six stranded in Bali hospital after stroke

A Perth grandmother is in an induced coma in Bali after suffering a stroke, with her family distressed that she may not make it home.

Rosalind Connaughton is currently in intensive care in a Bali hospital, but without travel insurance she is effectively stranded there and the medical bills are piling up.

One of her daughters, Hope, received a telephone call late on Monday night to tell her the mother of six and grandmother of 13 had collapsed in Bali with bleeding on the brain.

Perth grandmother Rosalind Connaughton is currently in intensive care with just her daughter alongside her after she suffered a stroke. Her family can’t afford to fly her home and she has no travel insurance. Source: 7 News
Perth grandmother Rosalind Connaughton is currently in intensive care with just her daughter alongside her after she suffered a stroke. Her family can’t afford to fly her home and she has no travel insurance. Source: 7 News

Hope said her mother normally took out travel insurance, but this time “she just totally forgot about it”.

“I think it was just a spur of the moment holiday,” she said.

The family can’t afford a Medivac flight home and right now Rosalind is too sick to fly.

“We’re just waiting for that phone call basically to say she’s gone,” Hope said.

Rosalind’s daughter Hope is pleading for her mum to get ‘stay strong’, get better and come home. Source: 7 News
Rosalind’s daughter Hope is pleading for her mum to get ‘stay strong’, get better and come home. Source: 7 News

In a statement, DFAT said it is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman hospitalised in Bali.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we will not provide further comment,” the statement reads.

“She’s our rock, she’s our world,” Hope said.

“We miss you Mum, please fight, stay strong, please come home to your babies.”