A newlywed woman is on life support after a crash left her with ‘catastrophic’ brain damage… what her hospital planned to do next sparked a tense legal battle with her family
A family has won a lawsuit to keep their newlywed daughter on a ventilator as they plan to fly her back to China after she fell into a coma following a car crash.
Xinyi Zhang, also known as Juno, suffered ‘catastrophic’ brain injuries after the September 24 Sydney accident.
The young newlyweds are currently in a coma in the intensive care unit of St Vincent’s Hospital in the city centre.
Doctor Jacob Fairhall, a respected neurosurgeon at the hospital, believes Ms Zhang will not recover from her injuries.
However, her parents launched a legal battle in the NSW Supreme Court to prevent her life support being turned off and doctors resuscitating her if necessary.
Despite the prognosis of experts, the family’s hopes are raised because she has opened her eyes and they want to repatriate her to Huashan Hospital in Shanghai to be treated by a specialist.
But they must find more than $430,000 within days to secure medical repatriation with global charter booking service JetBay.
Xinyi Zhang, also known as Juno, suffered ‘catastrophic’ brain injuries after a road accident in Sydney on September 24. The young newlyweds are currently in a coma in the intensive care unit at St. Vincent’s Hospital in the city’s CBD. (photo)
Doctor Jacob Fairhall (pictured), a respected neurosurgeon at the hospital, believes Ms Zhang will not recover from her injuries
Lawyers for St. Vincent’s Hospital opposed the legal order because, “unfortunate as it may be,” they believed further treatment for Ms. Zhang was “futile.”
Dr. Stephen Morgan, an intensive care specialist at St. Vincent’s, said that while Ms. Zhang still has some natural reflexes, such as blinking, this does not change the assessment of the irreparable damage to her brain.
However, the NSW Supreme Court ruled in favor of her parents to leave life support on briefly, but did not order doctors to resuscitate Ms Zhang as this was contrary to their medical opinion.
“Despite the bleak medical predictions, some credit must be given to the hopes of her parents and family for some recovery,” Judge David Hammerschlag ruled.
‘But this must be balanced with the practical availability at short notice of obtaining an evacuation and medical advice.
The Chinese nationals are optimistic that she will recover because she has opened her eyes and want to repatriate her to Huashan Hospital in Shanghai to be treated by a specialist (photo)
‘In light of the exceptional circumstances of this case, I have concluded that life support (by intubation) should be maintained for eight days, but no longer, to allow them the opportunity to achieve this.
“I also do not believe that St. Vincent’s should be ordered, contrary to what it views as the ethical responsibilities of its practitioners, to provide CPR during this period (as opposed to maintaining life support without CPR).”
The ruling, published on October 10, means Ms Zhang’s parents have until Thursday to raise the necessary funds.
Attempts have been made to contact Ms. Zhang’s parents.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted St Vincent’s Hospital and JetBay for comment.