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Sydney family fight to raise money to have their toddler flown back to Australia after she was pulled unconscious from a swimming pool in Bali.

Kawa Sweeney, 3, was on holiday in Bali with her parents, Dee Tang and Desmond Sweeney, when she was found unconscious in a swimming pool yesterday.

Ms Tang runs the popular Kawaiian Lion homewares store on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

The couple’s friend Pearl Tan posted a call for help on the business’s Instagram account soon after the incident.

“Please spread the word. Kawa, Dee’s 3 year old daughter, was in a drowning accident in Bali. She is currently in a coma and they need $42,000 to medivac her back to Perth. They have the permit to fly her back, and need to pay the money up front. We have set up a gofundme page to help with the cost to get her home and pay for medical bills. Thank you!”

The young girl remains in a coma.

UPDATE 25 July

The young girl from Newport arrived in Perth late on Monday night and was taken straight to Princess Margaret Hospital where she is fighting for her life, The West Australian reports.

Ms Tang’s sister Christine Walsh told Daily Mail Australia that Kawa had been pulled out of a pool unconscious on what was to be the family’s last day of a week-long trip to the popular Indonesian island.

‘Basically, she was in a drowning accident,’ Ms Walsh said. ‘They pulled her out of the pool and she was unconscious.’

She added that a doctor who happened to be nearby at the time performed CPR on the little girl for 45 minutes.
‘Kawa is still in an induced coma. They will be keeping her that way until her vital signs improve,’ Ms Walsh added.

Ms Walsh said the family is extremely grateful by the support they’ve received.

She said they had thought they had travel insurance, but it turned out they weren’t covered.

The family were advised to get Kawa back to Australia as soon as possible, she said.

Ms Walsh said the air ambulance company had advised Ms Tang, who is originally from Perth, to raise funds to charter a plane to fly her daughter there as it is closer to Bali than Sydney.

She added that any funds left over after Kawa’s medical bills have been paid will be donated to charity.

‘They are really overwhelmed by the support and people’s generosity,’ Ms Walsh said.

‘They are really grateful.’

You can support the family here.

UPDATE 27 July

Sad news to hear that little Kawa has been ruled brain dead.
Her family has been told the toddler will not recover from the accident. She remains in an induced coma at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Family spokesperson Pearl Tan told the media yesterday the girl’s parents were now facing the heartbreaking decision of turning off her life support.

“They ran those tests and Kawa was unresponsive,” Ms Tan said.

“There’s a lot of disbelief I guess that this has happened and it’s quite difficult to think beyond the next five minutes right now really so I know that the family are just talking and considering what to do next but yeah it’s a pretty tough situation.”

The three-year-old’s father posted a photo at their favourite beach on Instagram yesterday afternoon with the caption: “We are overwhelmed by your prayers, thoughts and well wishes… They are getting us through this difficult time.”

Share your comments below.

Image via gofundme

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  • Oh no, all that effort for such a heart breaking result. Just devastating to lose a child

    Reply

  • With Travel Insurance with some companies you have to pay up front and submit a claim when you get back to Australia.
    Not all travellers take Travel Insurance. They either don’t think about it or decide they won’t need it.

    Reply

  • So sorry to hear that Kawa has now been pronounced brain dead. Terrible trauma for the whole family. RIP little one.

    Reply

  • wishing this little beautiful girl all the best wishes and strength to fight hard and be with her loving parents again – such a horrible accident and to be away from home when it happened would be so very stressful – glad that they managed to raise the money to get her home – hope she improves

    Reply

  • I saw they made it! They reached the money (actually a lot more) and they are now in Perth.

    Reply

  • far out, not the last day of the holiday to come to. Fight hard and come back to your family.

    Reply

  • I too hope that Kawa will be okay.

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  • Hope & pray Kawa recovers well and can come back to Australia.

    Reply

  • Hope Kawa recovers.

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  • I hope Kawa recovers and it sent home,wishing her all the best.

    Reply

  • Oh my! Shouldn’t the health insurance cover the trip though?
    I hope they will be able to bring her back to Australia as soon as possible!!

    Reply

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