Shocking twist in Aussie tourist’s Bali GoFundMe plea: Indonesian cops tell a VERY different story about Benji Ward after kind Australians forked out $40k
An Australian tourist who left with life-changing injuries after a head-on motorcycle collision in Bali was to blame, Indonesian police say.
Benji Ward, 24, suffered serious head injuries and broke four bones – including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin – in the head-on collision at 2am last Thursday in the North Kuta district of Badung regency in Bali.
Well-wishers have donated more than $40,000 after a GoFundMe page was set up by Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett to raise money for his surgery and medical evacuation back to Melbourne.
A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward had been injured in a hit-and-run, a claim he echoed in comments he made from his hospital bed four days ago.
“They (the police) are trying to find the Russian who hit me because he also hit another person that same night and broke his arm,” Mr Ward said.
But now Daily Mail Australia can reveal that there was no collision, according to local police.
Instead, Mr Ward signed a ‘peace deal’ through an intermediary on Monday to pay compensation to the Russian driver, Dmitry Akimenko, to avoid being charged with a traffic offence.
Benji Ward (pictured), 24, suffered serious head injuries and broke four bones, including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin, in the head-on collision at 2am on Thursday in Bali’s North Kuta district. Badung Regency
Benefactors donated more than $40,000 after a GoFundMe page was set up by Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett to raise money for his surgery and medical evacuation back to Melbourne
Mr Ward, riding a Yamaha NMax with a 155cc engine in the early hours of the morning, was reportedly trying to overtake another rider when he entered a lane of oncoming traffic. He then collided with Mr. Akimenko’s Kawasaki Ninja.
Mr. Ward was left with serious injuries, while Mr. Akimenko suffered relatively minor knee injuries.
Daily Mail Australia has learned that Mr Ward has agreed to pay just over $1,000 to cover Mr Dmitry’s medical expenses and $3,500 to cover damage to his bicycle.
“It was not a hit and run and both sides have decided to resolve the matter with a peace agreement,” Badung police chief Teguh Priowarsono said.
There is no suggestion that Ms. Scarlett knew the collision had not happened when she started GoFundMe.
Daily Mail Australia approached Mr Ward and Ms Scarlett for comment about the new revelations.
A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward was injured in a hit-and-run (pictured), a claim he echoed in comments he made from his hospital bed four days ago (below)
An update on the GoFundMe page suggesting that Mr Ward was involved in a hit-and-run and that police were looking for the other driver has been removed.
On Monday, Ms. Scarlett shared a breakdown of Mr. Ward’s current medical expenses on the GoFundMe page, claiming the total bill to date was $39,000.
On the same day, Mr Ward shared an Australian Air Ambulance aeromedical pick-up quote for $180,750 on his Instagram stories.
“Some people have the guts to say I’m trying to make money on the flight home, so please,” he captioned the post.
“Don’t think this is necessary in the situation I’m in, but some lowly people clearly have nothing better to do than (sic) talk.”
On Monday, Mr. Ward shared this update from his hospital bed
He also hit back at critics who apparently suggested he was trying to monetize his flight home
Mr Ward urgently needed a blood transfusion and underwent surgery to drill a metal halo splint into his right leg.
“Everything is fine, the operation went well,” Mr Ward said from his hospital bed four days ago.
“I will have another surgery in three weeks, I am currently wearing a Halo and there is no bleeding from the brain. All the blood has stopped from my head, so it all looks positive.’
He also thanked friends and family who donated.
Ms Scarlett, an OnlyFans model and influencer, has a form to represent Australians in Bali who are suffering from some form of medical crisis.
Previously, she acted as de facto media spokesperson for baby ‘Lucky’s family.
Mr Ward (pictured left) will have a metal halo brace drilled into his leg, requiring him to use a wheelchair for months
Bailey Scarlett, an OnlyFans model and actress, set up the GoFundMe page for her friend Mr Ward. She also acted as de facto media spokesperson for Baby Lucky’s parents Honey and Pan Ahimsa in February. There is no suggestion that Ms. Scarlett knew the collision had not happened when she started the GoFundMe organization.
In February, the family captured the nation’s hearts when Lucky’s mother, Honey Ahimsa, made a desperate attempt to arrange a medical evacuation.
Her then seven-week-old daughter had to fly back to Australia for life-saving care that is not available in Indonesia.
Ms Ahimsa, a welfare influencer and mother of two, originally from Melbourne, said doctors in Bali gave her baby a 50 per cent chance of survival.
Within days, nearly $200,000 was raised by kind-hearted donors who rallied behind the stranded family as Lucky battled sepsis, severe pneumonia, lung failure, and RSV bronchiolitis.
She was flown to Brisbane on a medical flight in February and the doctors successfully treated her.
A few months later in July, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Ms Ahmisa and her partner Pan, along with Lucky and their other young child, have returned to Bali where they are renovating a house.