California travel blogger in coma after scooter crash in Bali, family says
The family of a California woman in a coma after a scooter crash two weeks ago in Bali is being barred from visiting because of the coronavirus pandemic, loved ones and U.S. officials said Monday.
The woman, Kaitlyn McCaffery, 27, of Northern California, was found unconscious by the side of a remote road on July 31, said her mother, Janine McCaffery.
Doctors at a hospital in Denpasar, Bali, have told McCaffery's family that she is in a coma after having suffered traumatic brain injuries and other wounds.
Indonesia has been blocking a visa because of the country's struggle with Covid-19, Janine McCaffery said.
"I just want to be by her side," said McCaffery, 60.
McCaffery said that she is grateful for all the help she has received from the State Department and her congresswoman but that she is no closer to getting to Bali.
"There's teams of people working on it," she said. "The [country] is so locked down with Covid even if they grant me my visa, which we've been trying to get since we found out about the accident, I still have to quarantine for eight days."
The family has hired private nurses to visit the hospital daily, helping relay information to loved ones back in the states.
Kaitlyn McCaffery, a world traveler, told her Instagram followers just before the crash that she had been in Bali for two months.
"Loving where I live, the people I have met so far, and the warm warm air," she wrote. "So happy to call this place home."
The family is raising money for the costly and delicate act of having her medically evacuated to California.
"Kaitlyn ... attended school at Wilcox High in Santa Clara, California and Cal State Fullerton," a GoFundMe page says. "She graduated with a degree in business entrepreneurship and set off to travel the world. 5 years later, she has visited over 50 countries and built friendships all around the world."
A spokeswoman for Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., declined to discuss the matter or even acknowledge that her office is assisting Janine McCaffery. A State Department representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
