Friends and family rally round to help Fife victim of Australia car crash

Parents fly out to be with Caroline thanks to online appeal

Friends and family of a Fife woman who survived a horrific car crash while travelling in Australia have rallied around to help her on the long road to recovery.

Caroline Davie, 28, from Burntisland, suffered life-changing spinal injuries in the accident last month and is facing the prospect of several more painful months of rehabilitation ahead.

But Miss Davie’s parents, Carol and Ricky, who flew over to Perth, Western Australia, to be with their daughter at the earliest opportunity, will have been heartened by the outpouring of support back home after more than £11,120 was raised in the space of just 18 days following an online appeal by her brother, Richard.

Miss Davie grew up in Fife and is well-known in Burntisland, having attended both Burntisland Primary and then Balwearie High, while also working in Denis’s Hair Salon and the Inchview Hotel.

Her brother, Richard, who set up a gofundme page to raise funds to help her parents cope with the financial strain of flights to Australia, accommodation and other unknown costs that may lie ahead, has said the family is “extremely grateful” for the generous contributions thus far – but added that Miss Davie may be in hospital for many weeks to come.

“I wish I had more good news to tell ever yone about Caroline but unfortunately not; her mobility will be severely restricted and she’ll have to adapt to a new way of life,” Mr Davie confirmed in his latest update.

“Those who know Caroline personally can testify that she is a determined soul so we are all hoping she can channel this into her recovery.

“The doctors are unsure how long she will remain in intensive care; estimates are between one week and four months, depending on her ability to breathe unassisted.”

Once she leaves hospital, Mr Davie went on to say that she will likely have to spend a couple of months in a rehabilitation facility in Australia, or potentially closer to home in Edinburgh.

Efforts to support the family are due to continue on Sunday when the Reading Rooms venue in Dundee – a regular hotspot Miss Davie used to attend – hosts a fundraiser between 2 and 10pm.

Money is also still flooding in to Caroline’s Accident Fund on gofundme, with donations welcome via www. gofundme.com/xzvg5s.