The family of Western Australian police officer Ella Cutler, still critical after a fall overseas, is making preparations to fly her back to Australia.
Ms Culter, 26, suffered devastating injuries after falling 10m from a clifftop in the coastal Croatian city of Dubrovnik on August 26.
Her RAC travel insurance wouldn’t cover the cost of her treatment or air ambulance home, so her family took to online fundraising to get the money.
They’ve since exceeded their $500k target, with a GoFundMe campaign having raised more than $524k at the time of writing.
On Friday, the Cutler family released a statement through WA Police.
“There are a number of medical and logistical factors which need to line up before Ella can fly home to WA,” reads the statement.
“We are hopeful this will be sooner rather than later and we are optimistic it will be days, not weeks. What we do know is that Ella’s return home is now possible because of the support she received from her blue family and the WA community.
“From Ella and the Cutler family, we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”
The cost of an air ambulance from Croatia alone is estimated to cost about $400k.
WA Police last Friday posted a 40 second video with pictures and video of Ms Cutler, including new images of her in her hospital bed.
WA Police Inspector Geoff DeSanges said Ella is a part of their “big blue family.”
“I understand that her family are experiencing some difficulty in returning her home financially, so I know a lot of people in WA police have got behind that effort which is not surprising to me because we’re a very tight-knit blue family,” he said.