Kylee Enwright: Australian woman stranded in Thailand with catastrophic brain injury

A devastated Australian tourist in Thailand begs for help to bring his wife home after a misstep leaves her with a catastrophic brain injury that their travel insurance won’t cover – allegedly because she was ‘too drunk’.

Paul Enwright, owner of a pest control company, and his wife Kylee were on the second day of their vacation in the city of Khao Lak when disaster struck on May 28.

The couple, from Singleton, NSW, were drinking at their resort’s poolside bar when 48-year-old Kylee decided to go to the toilet, reports 7News.

Shocking images show the grandmother stepping off a wooden plank, apparently mistaken for stairs, falling 50 cm and landing on her face.

Another guest at the hotel gave Kylee first aid while he waited 15 minutes for emergency services.

“She was actually bleeding from the head and ears. Her head hit the floor really hard, I’m told,” said Mr. Enwright.

She was rushed to a local hospital and transported to a larger facility in Phuket, where Mr. Enwright was told to prepay for life-saving brain surgery.

The staff demanded more than $20,000, but the operation went ahead after Mr. Enwright managed to scrape together nearly $13,000.

Since then, Kylee’s medical bills have skyrocketed to over $50,000, with $5,000 piling up every day.

To make matters worse, the couple’s travel insurance has said it won’t cover the cost due to an alcohol limit clause that the Enwrights were unaware of.

Kylee’s family is facing a medical bill of more than $50,000 in addition to a $200,000 medical evacuation fee. (Pictured: Kylee in hospital in Thailand)

The couple’s travel insurance said it will not cover the incident because it believes Kylee (pictured with her grandson) had exceeded the covered alcohol limit of 0.19.

The company used the bar’s tabs and CCTV footage of the couple to determine that the grandmother was over the legal alcohol limit of 0.19.

Kylee’s blood alcohol level has not been tested.

‘Like most Australians, we bought travel insurance at the level of cover we thought would be adequate. We thought we had done everything right,” Mr Enwright said.

The couple’s three adult children have all traveled to be with their mother in Thailand as the family struggles to find a way to bring her back to Australia.

Mr Enwright said he wants his wife back home as soon as possible, but the medical evacuation she needs will cost them $200,000.

Kylee’s husband Paul (pictured together) wants to get her back to Australia as soon as possible, noting that her recovery is slower than doctors expected

“She can move her left arm and left leg. She can squeeze your hand. She hasn’t moved her right side much and they’re a little concerned that she’s not more alert now,” he said.

“We need to get her back to Australia and back into the Australian medical system where I think she can get the best care.”

a GoFundMe to help the Enwrights with their medical expenses raised more than $64,000 Wednesday night.