An Australian who suffered horrific injuries after a home invasion in Bali has said he is ‘lucky to be alive’ after surviving the terrifying ordeal.
Victorian man Joe has been “living back and forth in Bali” for the past few years, he told Daily Mail Australia.
But he and his girlfriend were victims of a shocking crime at 2am on October 17: a ‘robbery and attempted murder’ at his rental home on the holiday island.
‘An Indonesian man wearing a mask entered my house with a large knife while I was sleeping. “I woke up in the dark, shocked, staring at him as he stood in my room,” Joe, 39, said.
He jumped out of bed, grabbed the blade of the knife the intruder was holding and fought for his life.
The man shouted ‘punya temen’ at him, which means ‘I have friends’.
“He ran and hit a picture frame on my head as I chased him,” said Joe, whose hands were torn by the knife.
In addition to being seriously injured, his phones, passport, laptop, wallet, bank cards, some clothes and his glasses were stolen – all were in a bag because he was going on a trip later that day.
Australian Joe (pictured) suffered horrific injuries in a home invasion in Bali but said he’s just ‘glad to be alive’ after surviving the terrifying ordeal
Adding to his extreme distress, when his girlfriend called the police and ambulance, no one answered, and neither did he had to get help from workers at a mini-mart to take him to a hospital.
He required surgery, but did not want to undergo it in Bali due to the size and complicated nature of his wounds.
Joe didn’t have insurance, but that wasn’t the only reason he didn’t want to get the treatment he needed in Bali.
“I’ve been told not to do it, I’ve heard from friends that I should never have surgery in Bali,” he said.
‘Even though the thief took all my belongings, including my passport, I was assured that some sort of system had been set up so that I could get on the flight (back to Australia).
‘But apparently not. That’s why my sister flew over and we had to order an emergency passport.’
With the help of his sibling, he was able to fly back to Australia a week later, where he had surgery on both hands at Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth.
“The surgeon performed four operations and repaired the two severed tendons in my middle finger, the broken metacarpal and the incisive nerve in my right thumb,” he said.
He required surgery, but did not want to undergo it in Bali due to the size and complicated nature of his wounds
In contrast to his experience in Bali, Joe said he is now “super happy and happy with Australia, the systems, the hospital, Medicare, I’m happy with the support of my family.”
He has now been discharged from hospital, but will require three months of hand therapy and medication, such as antibiotics and anti-inflammatory and nerve pain tablets.
He set one up GoFundMe as all the stolen items, medical bills, emergency documents and last-minute flights have already cost him over $20,000.
“It’s a little embarrassing” to have set up the fundraiser, he said, but if people can help in any way, he will “be forever grateful.”
“If you can’t, that’s okay too, I’m just happy to be alive.”
Joe’s fingers are moving now, but he will need to spend a lot of time on hand exercises over the next few months to get his tendons working and moving through the scar problem.
He doesn’t know who attacked him and didn’t think he had any enemies, but wondered if anyone had noticed that he lived in a nice rental house with nice furniture.
“It’s hard because I don’t want my thoughts to follow this path,” he said.
There are “two sides” to the recovery process, Joe said.
“The surgeon performed four operations and repaired the two severed tendons in my middle finger, the broken metacarpal and the incisive nerve in my right thumb,” he said
‘The physical side I am happy with, because the doctors have put the tendons back together and have a lot of confidence in my recovery.
‘The other side is just the emotional side, because I’ve never experienced something so heavy.
‘I have trouble turning off the lights at night to go to sleep.’
Although Bali police eventually reported what happened, “they were hopeless,” he said.
“I have CCTV footage of the thief and his fingerprints and have given authorities the serial numbers of everything stolen, but (they have done nothing).”
Despite his horrific, life-threatening experience, Joe said: ‘I still love the people and the culture (of Bali).
“I think the majority of people there are good, but people, especially Australians, need to know that if they go on holiday there, there is crime.”