An Australian woman who suffered serious leg injuries in a scooter crash on a remote island near Bali has returned home to the Gold Coast, with her medical costs exceeding A$30,000 despite having travel insurance.

Amy Donohue, a remedial masseuse from the Gold Coast, travelled to Bali earlier this month with friends to attend a close friend’s wedding.

While exploring a remote island, Donohue was travelling as a passenger on a scooter when the vehicle lost balance and tipped over, leaving her with a serious leg wound and significant blood loss.

“The scooter and foot pedal landed on my leg, causing a very serious wound and significant blood loss,” Donohue said in a statement shared on Instagram.

Her friends immediately applied a tourniquet while waiting for medical assistance. Because the local hospital did not have the facilities to treat an injury of that severity, she was urgently evacuated to mainland Bali for treatment.

Her friends later launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the costs of her emergency evacuation, hospital treatment, ongoing medical care and return to Australia. The fundraiser raised more than A$11,000.

Donohue said she had travel insurance and remained in contact with her insurer throughout the process, but the situation became complicated while the hospital required payment or confirmation of insurance before treatment and evacuation could proceed.

“When a scooter is involved, there is understandably a lot of information the insurance company needs, and the whole situation became incredibly complicated very quickly,” she said.

Donohue acknowledged that she had made a mistake by not fully understanding the terms of her insurance policy.

She said her friends launched the fundraiser while she was heavily medicated and in considerable pain, as they sought to cover immediate costs while waiting for the insurance process to be completed.

Donohue also rejected suggestions that she had been uninsured or riding recklessly.

“I wasn’t riding recklessly. I wasn’t without a helmet. I wasn’t uninsured. This was a genuine accident,” she said.

She also denied claims that she had spent the days before the crash drinking or partying in Bali.

“I certainly wasn’t on some week-long bender before my accident,” she said.

Donohue is now back home on the Gold Coast and continuing her recovery.

She said she was grateful to the friends who helped her immediately after the crash and supported her throughout the ordeal.

“If it wasn’t for my beautiful friends acting incredibly quickly, the outcome could have been very different. I will forever be grateful to them for that,” she said.

The incident also highlights the risks associated with scooter travel in Bali. Southern Cross Travel Insurance said it received 21 claims from Australians involving scooter or moped incidents in Bali in 2024, including two cases that resulted in hospitalisation.