An Australian student who was admitted to a hospital in Taipei after ingesting rat poison left the country on a medical evacuation flight yesterday morning.
Alex Shorey, 24, arrived by ambulance at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 2 at about 4:30am. After a simplified immigration and security check, he was taken to a medical plane at 5:03am. The flight departed at 5:50am.
Taipei Medical University Hospital on Saturday said in a statement that Shorey had ingested superwarfarin, an active agent commonly used in rat poison.
Photo: CNA
His symptoms included nausea, vomiting, bleeding from the nose, bloody urine and coagulation disorders, the hospital said.
Shorey was initially treated with vitamin K1, but had an allergic reaction to the treatment, the hospital said, adding that his condition stabilized after doctors adjusted his medication.
ABC News Australia on Friday last week reported that Shorey, who hails from Toowoomba in southern Queensland state, was admitted to hospital on April 18.
The public broadcaster’s overseas service cited Shorey’s brother as saying that the student had ingested the rat poison “somehow in his travels, through the food he has eaten maybe. We’re not entirely sure and may never know.”
In a since-deleted portion of a Gofundme page, Shorey’s aunt said that his poisoning might have been related to street food.
“It is suspected that Alex may have picked up some food at [a] local street market or along his travels that was either laced with poison, or had somehow been contaminated with superwarfarin,” she wrote.
However, Shorey later told his doctors that his condition was unlikely to be related to street food, although he could not recall how he might have ingested the poison, the hospital said.
Tamkang University said Shorey had been enrolled at its Chinese Language Center from September to November last year and extended his studies from December to February.
The Taipei-based university said Shorey initially left Taiwan on Feb. 14, adding that it did not know when he returned and whether he had continued his studies at another school.
As Shorey’s health insurance did not cover the cost of a medical evacuation flight, his family launched a campaign to raise more than A$200,000 (US$133,204), ABC News Australia said.
The report said that the flight cost A$172,000 and that the remaining funds would be donated to Australian evacuation provider Medical Rescue.
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