Australian tourist’s Bali scooter crash leaves her with A$30,000 bill

Gold Coast — — An Australian woman from the Gold Coast, Amy Donohue, is facing medical and evacuation costs of more than A$30,000 after suffering a serious leg injury in a scooter crash on a remote island off Bali, according to Australian and New Zealand media reports.

Donohue, a remedial masseuse and energy healer, had travelled to Indonesia with friends for a wedding when the accident occurred earlier in August. She was riding as a passenger on a scooter while the group explored a remote island off Bali when the vehicle lost balance and tipped over, crushing her leg. Donohue later wrote on Instagram that the scooter and its foot pedal landed on her leg, causing “a very serious wound and significant blood loss”, according to coverage in Australian outlets.

Friends applied a tourniquet and she was taken to a local hospital on the island. Because the facility did not have the capacity to treat an injury of that severity, she was urgently evacuated to mainland Bali for further treatment, according to media reports citing her account.

News reports say she has since returned to Australia to continue her recovery at home.

Insurance and fundraising

Several outlets report that Donohue’s medical and related costs have exceeded A$30,000 and continue to rise. According to coverage based on a GoFundMe campaign set up by friends, the fundraising drive was launched to help pay for hospital treatment in Bali, medical evacuation, ongoing care and her journey back to Australia.

Australian media report that the GoFundMe had raised around A$11,000 within days of the crash. Earlier coverage from New Zealand and Swiss outlets, citing the same fundraising page at an earlier point, put donations at nearly A$9,000 and just over A$6,000 respectively. The initial fundraising target was reported to be about A$12,000.

Reports say Donohue had travel insurance and remained in contact with her insurer during her treatment. However, she is still facing a substantial medical bill despite holding a policy, according to those accounts.

Donohue’s response to criticism

In subsequent statements shared on Instagram and reported by Australian media, Donohue addressed social media criticism of the crowdfunding effort. She rejected claims that she was uninsured, had been riding recklessly or was not wearing a helmet.

“I wasn’t riding recklessly. I wasn’t without a helmet. I wasn’t uninsured. This was a genuine accident,” she said, according to one Australian outlet quoting her Instagram post. She also disputed suggestions from some commenters that the trip had been a prolonged drinking or party holiday, describing the crash as an unforeseen incident during a wedding trip.

Timeline and location

Media reports indicate that Donohue travelled from the Gold Coast to Bali for a friend’s wedding in early August 2026. The scooter accident occurred on a remote island off Bali; the exact island and crash location have not been identified in the available coverage.

Following the crash, she was treated at a local hospital on the island, then evacuated to mainland Bali for further care. Her friends launched the GoFundMe campaign while she was undergoing treatment overseas, and she later returned to Australia to focus on recovery.

Broader context

The case has been highlighted by Australian media as another example of the financial risk facing tourists injured in scooter accidents in Bali and other parts of Indonesia. Reports note that even travellers with insurance can face large upfront costs and complicated claims processes when serious injuries require evacuation and specialist treatment abroad.

Sources

• PerthNow
• news.com.au
• The Nightly
• NZ Herald
• Bluewin
• The Bali Times