There was a time way back when being hospitalised in Bali was a very scary prospect.
Celebrating his birthday on a Bali surf trip over the second half of September, former multiple Aussie champ and star coach Mark Richardson suddenly found himself right back there when massive internal bleeding left him in need of donations of the rare A negative blood, apparently unavailable on the island and unable to be flown in from willing donors at home.
This kind of thing was par for the course at the handful of primitive hospitals in Bali in the 1970s and ‘80s, but one of the few good things that subsequent mass tourism has brought with it is a vastly improved health system, under which it’s difficult to comprehend the situation that put the gutsy Gold Coast goofy-footer, now coach to WSL surfers Isabella Nichols, Callum Robson and Liam O’Brien, close to death.
We don’t know the hospital side of the story, of course, and with Richo now having been med–vacced to Darwin, we’re not likely to hear it, but I’ve had numerous friends report excellent treatment for serious conditions, and I know that my own experience of blood poisoning from a leg wound a few years ago was a model of efficiency.
So let’s not beat up on Bali health just yet.
A heavily sedated Richo was flown into Darwin last Friday night and put straight into intensive care.
Family friend Fiona Meyer reported: “The doctors couldn’t believe the state his body was in on pick-up, and said it would have been fatal had he stayed in Bali as he was haemorrhaging.”
Diagnostic testing over the weekend apparently revealed that Richo is still seriously ill, suffering from hypoxia due to a lack of blood and oxygen for over a week, has low platelet levels and fluid around his lungs and abdomen. CT scans of head, chest, abdomen all came back positive, but further tests were being carried out on his bowel.
Updates have also provided more information as to the cause of his illness: a parasitic infection that most likely inflamed a large peptic duodenum ulcer and caused it to rupture.
Fiona Meyer reported: “As of now, the ulcer can’t be removed, so doctors used metal clips to stop the bleeding. Doctors are treating the parasite and will perform a biopsy of the ulcer once Mark has further stabilised.”
Richo will remain in Darwin until he is fully recovered.
Bali blues Pt 2
Meanwhile, former Sunny Coast surfer Ehrin Ezza Coupe is lucky to be alive following a freak accident while surfing Racetracks at Uluwatu early on the morning of 22 September.
Ezza, 40, apparently fell out of the top of a low tide cruncher and landed face first on the reef, requiring emergency plastic surgery to re-attach his nose and repair his forehead. According to wife Sarah, Ezza also severed a vital artery, but somehow managed to get himself across 100 metres of reef and trek 100 steps to find help in the form of another Australian surfer who managed to control the bleeding.
He was taken to Nusa Dua Hospital and rushed into vital surgery with an estimated cost of $25,000. Sarah Coupe believed that the family, who had moved to Bali to set up a business, were fully covered for 12 months by their travel insurance, but had failed to read the fine print which was that the coverage only lasted for 60 days each trip, a deadline they were well outside.
Friend and well-known Sunny Coast surfer Shane Bevan came to the rescue, organising a GoFundMe page on behalf of North Shore Boardriders. Ezza is slowly recovering in hospital.
Mitch gets a US gong
The many Noosa fans of virtuoso surfboard creator Mitchell Raye of Outer Island Surfboards will be delighted to read that the veteran shaper from the NSW north coast will be inducted into the Surfboard Builders Hall of Fame in California this month.
Hall of Fame inductees are nominated by former inductees, with Australian inductees having included the late Bill Wallace, Barry Bennett, Gordon Woods and Midget Farrelly, as well as Mark Richards, Dick Van Straalen, Hayden Kenny and Noosa’s Mike Davis. International honourees include surfing royalty and legends of the surfing world such as Duke Kahanamoku, Rabbit Kekai, Greg Noll, Lance Carson, Billy Hamilton and Gerry Lopez.
Mitch Raye’s shaping career began as a teenager 55 years ago at Gonzales’ boatshed at Palm Beach in Sydney, where he was mentored by the late Glynn Ritchie, later going out on his own with Outer Island, which developed an international reputation for innovative design, outrageous artwork and superb craftsmanship.
Never one to blow his own trumpet, Mitch’s operation, no matter how big or small it has been, is regarded by his peers and by satisfied repeat customers as the holy grail of Australian surfboard design.
Although he has been sneaking around the lesser known breaks of Indonesia (and ripping) all his surfing life, and has made about half a dozen pilgrimages to Hawaii, Mitch will make his first trip to California with wife Lyndie to pick up his award and be inducted.
He said: “I’m looking forward to meeting my fellow inductees from the American surf industry and seeing their board designs. I’ve been asked to take four new boards that will feature the Outer Islands distinctive ‘Spirit Eyes’ logos and will range from a custom Malibu longboard to my shortboard and mid-length concave designs and trademark flex tail models”.
FOOTNOTE: The many local surfers who support the Yes vote in The Voice referendum will welcome Thomas Surfboards, in conjunction with Surfers for Climate, hosting a free family-friendly evening of films, talks, live music and good vibes “to find out more about this once-in-a-lifetime referendum for the Voice!” Carpark Cinema at Thomas Surfboards, Project Ave Noosaville, kicks off at 6.30pm on Wednesday 11 October.
