Olivia North, 21, from Aberystwyth suffered serious brain injuries in a scooter crash in Goa, India, during her gap year – she was left in a coma and cannot fly home
A university student from Aberystwyth sustained severe brain injuries in a terrifying scooter accident during her gap year in India, just days before she was due to return home.
Olivia North is believed to have struck a pothole and was left unable to recall her beloved dog or her older brother. The 21 year old remains stranded in India and is currently unfit to fly home owing to the gravity of her brain injuries. In just a few short weeks, her family has spent thousands of pounds on flights, accommodation and private medical care in order to be by her side.
Olivia was two years into her media and communications degree at Goldsmiths, University of London, when she decided to take the trip of a lifetime. Having completed the early stages of her studies, she opted to defer her final year after becoming “disillusioned with university life”.
She spent six months grafting full-time in bars and restaurants to fund her travels before setting off on an adventure around India, journeying solo and immersing herself in the country’s rich and vibrant culture.
In May after not hearing from Olivia for a few days her dad Nic received the devastating news that Olivia had been involved in a catastrophic road accident and had been rushed to a hospital in southern Goa. Following a frantic search, ringing hospitals throughout the region, Nic eventually tracked down his daughter.
Nic said: “‘Your daughter has been critically injured,’ Dr Samira told me. ‘She collided with another scooter at 50 to 70kph [30 to 40mph] and was not wearing her helmet. She has a subdural hematoma with intrusion, or bruising, and a bleed on her brain measuring 3.6mm.'”
Subsequent MRI scans uncovered a serious injury to the left temporal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for storing memories, as well as her cerebellum, which controls orientation and balance.
48 hours later, Nic and his youngest daughter flew out to Goa to be by her side.Nic said: “Although she remembered us, she believed her older brother Sam to be her uncle and, more tragically, had no memory of her beloved dog, Raj, or his death just days before Christmas last year.
“She didn’t remember where she went to school or even the things she enjoyed so much, such as horse riding and representing her country at cricket as a teenager. But she was – is – miraculously, alive.”
Her father said he was stunned by the shortage of resources and maintains that “within minutes” of their arrival, his daughter was sent home owing to the volume of patients. Still experiencing a bleed on the brain, the family have established themselves at a hotel near a private hospital where she is undergoing regular assessments and scans.
She had sustained a serious brain injury and a severe facial wound which nearly caused her to lose her left eye. She also suffered two fractures to her wrist and lower arm.
Now recuperating from the traumatic incident, Olivia is sleeping for approximately 20 hours daily. She has no recollection of the crash or the days preceding it and can only manage short distances on foot. Olivia is also unable to return to the UK by air because the aircraft cabin pressure presents a significant risk to her type of brain injury.
Her father explained how the police officer who examined the crash said she was riding within the speed limit and he believed she’d struck a pothole in the darkness and lost control.
However, at the time of the crash Olivia hadn’t been wearing a helmet which had invalidated her travel insurance and now left her family in what they have described as “a deepening financial hole”. Nic said: “Even now, I cannot comprehend Olivia’s decision not to wear a helmet.”
In the three weeks since the accident, Olivia’s family has already forked out over £7,000 on flights, hotels, private healthcare, food and travel, and they are fully aware these costs are likely to mount further as they await the green light for Olivia to fly home.
Nic has launched a GoFundMe page to assist the family in covering the mounting expenses they now face as a result of the crash.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.
