SANTEE WOMAN INJURED IN AFRICA NEEDS FUNDS TO COME HOME

GoFundMe page started to pay for medical evacuation flight

By Miriam Raftery

October 10, 2018 (Santee) – Jeanette Craig, a retiree from Santee, has been seriously injured while vacationing in Lesotho, an African nation, when a tour bus overturned. Three people were killed and 12 injured. Craig suffered a fractured pelvis and leg, as well as torn ligaments, 10 News reports.

“Regular airlines will not transport her because of the severity of her injuries. The cost is estimated at $160,000,” says Nicolas Wiseman, a friend who started a GoFundMe page to help Craig return home. “While Jeanette has travel insurance, it will not cover these costs.”

Insurance covered only a helicopter flight to a clinic near Lesotho, where she has undergone several surgeries. Her family wants to bring her back to San Diego to undergo an MRI and other tests due to the severity of her injuries. But because of her condition, she can only travel lying down on a specially equipped medical airplane.

"Now her pain is just shocking. There's a ton of breakthrough pain every time she shifts because the pelvis is bone on bone,” her daughter-in-law, Tomira Baca-Craig, told 10 News. View interview and a video message from Jeanette Craig: https://www.10news.com/news/local-retiree-injured-in-african-tour-bus-tragedy.

“We never know when adventure is going to take a wrong turn!” Stephanie Young posted on Facebook, adding that her daughter is a close friend of Craig’s daughter. “Kylie, Jeanette’s daughter, has flown to South Africa, left her job & family to be with her mother. Kyle can I’ll afford such expense.”  Young urges travelers to check on their travel insurance coverage and urges the community to donate to help bring Jeanette Craig home.

You can make a donation at https://www.gofundme.com/jeanette-craig-emergency.  So far, about $18,000 has been raised.