Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
UPDATE: Mike Dunn was evacuated from Mexico on Feb. 22 on a low-flying leer jet. As of Feb. 23, he was on a ventilator and heavily sedated at the Royal Alex hospital in Edmonton. His family was able to visit him briefly. The family will be meeting with neurosurgeons in the upcoming days.
A local man who suffered a head injury while on vacation now needs to be medically evacuated, and his family has started a fundraiser to make this happen.
Mike Dunn, 66, had been vacationing in Mazatlan, Mexico, when he slipped on water and fell down backwards on concrete stairs on Feb. 13.
He was taken to the general hospital in Mazatlan where he was stabilized.
鈥淗e does have a couple of friends down there, so they were able to speak a bit of Spanish and help, because the hospital didn鈥檛 really speak English at all, and they kind of told us about it,鈥� said Angela Dunn, Mike鈥檚 daughter.
鈥淩ight now, he鈥檚 being intubated and fully sedated, just like unconscious with a head injury, and the hospital today (Feb. 16) just started a surgery to basically put a clip on his artery that鈥檚 ruptured in the back of his brain and drain the blood from his brain.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just kind of there right now, but his vitals are still reasonably stable. He hasn鈥檛 had any seizures or strokes or anything.鈥�
In a Feb. 17 update, Angela reported that Mike had suffered a severe brain hemorrhage, and the surgeon in Mexico thinks it may have been what caused the fall but is still unsure.
Due to that new info, they are not willing to do the surgery at the hospital in Mexico.
"I am working with the Med Evac team today and they should have him back in an ICU in Canada ASAP (timeframe still unknown), where he will hopefully be able to undergo a more invasive surgery with a less optimistic outcome," she wrote in an email.
The family now wants to get Mike back to Canada as soon as possible so he can be treated in an Edmonton hospital close to his family under the Canadian health system.
A medical evacuation would cost around $60,000.
managing to raise $10,000 as of Feb. 16.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to put it out there and just even (have) people sharing it on Facebook or like just getting any help we can to share the costs,鈥� Angela said.
Any extra funding will either be refunded or go to charity.
Editor's note: The story was last updated on Feb. 23. Also, the date of the accident was originally reported as Feb. 20 but was in fact Feb. 13.
