Miracle for son of reality TV icon who was mowed down by a speeding train and suffered unimaginable life-changing injuries
EXCLUSIVE
The son of a reality TV veteran who was struck by a train and suffered horrific injuries is spending Christmas with his family after making a miracle recovery.
Drew Dowsley, 30, had suffered a mental health episode and begged for help before the devastating incident on September 15.
He somehow survived the cataclysmic tragedy but then lay helpless and alone by the tracks for seven hours as his life ebbed away – before he was fatefully discovered.
His mum, celebrity makeup artist Helen Dowsley, was working on the set of reality TV show Farmer Wants A Wife when she received the awful news.
‘It was just an average day at work, little did I know of the horror that was unfolding,’ Helen told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The last time I spoke to him he was pleading for help from the hospital and, naturally, I believed they would help him.
‘I didn’t know they had refused, until I received a phone call next day telling me he had been hit by a train and had been helicoptered to Royal North Shore Hospital.’
Mr Dowsley suffered an array of life-changing injuries including the loss of his hand, three bleeds on the brain, a broken chest plate, broken ribs and a shattered spine.
Since then Mr Dowsley has undergone multiple operations.
Drew Dowsley (pictured) is home for Christmas but still has a long recovery ahead
Drew Dowsley spent months in hospital recovering from multiple serious injuries (pictured)
Mother Helen Dowsley (pictured with Abbie Chatfield) was on set working when she found out her son was in hospital
‘His left hand was degloved and they were unable to save it,’ his mum said.
‘They took a donor skin from his right thigh to cover the ‘gaping’ hole, as they put it, over his wrist.
‘They have to put a steel plate on his wrist to hold his thumb onto his wrist. There’s no other skeleton in his hand. There’s no hand. Just a large piece of skin.
‘His body was absolutely shattered as you can imagine being hit by a train.’
Three months on, Helen still can’t believe that her son was turned away by the medical professionals he begged for help.
The hospital’s reason for refusing to deal with him was that he had not hurt himself or others, and posed no apparent danger, Ms Dowsley said.
‘They actually told him that there were other people that needed their help more than him.
‘He was clearly in a state of psychosis at the hospital but they turned him away. It was absolutely horrific and I just could not believe it. I still can’t.
‘It makes me so angry and also terribly sad that my lovely son asked for help but was refused and was in such a terrible state he then went and threw himself in front of a train.’
But the joy of her son’s return home in time to celebrate Christmas is tainted with worry about the months of expensive operations and recovery that now lie ahead.
Helen Dowsley’s son Drew (pictured) has suffered life-changing injuries after he was struck by a train during a mental health crisis
Abbie Chatfield has led a series of Aussie stars offering her support for her ‘beautiful friend’, Helen Dowsley (pictured together)
Helen worked globally with the worlds biggest stars including Ed Sheeran (pictured together)
Helen Dowsley is pictured on set with Pia Miranda
Friends say Helen is the most loving mum to her sons (pictured)
‘We went to the specialist last week and at this stage we know there will be at least about three surgeries for his hand to be able to get a prosthesis,’ she revealed.
‘People think that Medicare will cover all his treatments but that is not the case.
‘He’s only been out of hospital for five days. We don’t really know how much it will cost but it will be enormous and he will need considerable ongoing treatment for the remainder of his life.
‘He needs so much help for all his injuries as well as his PTSD.
‘After seeing the doctor at the amputee centre, he needs a prosthetic that will cost at least $100,000…probably more.’
Australian TV stars came together in the wake of Drew’s accident to share the GoFundMe campaign set up to help cover medical costs.
Describing the make-up artist as ‘the most generous and beautiful woman,’ reality personality Abbie Chatfield said Helen always took care of everyone on set.
‘She is the one who counsels us through our life dramas on set, and now it’s our turn to stand by her and Drew,’ she wrote.
Helen says the celebrity-led support has humbled her.
‘It’s incredibly emotional to hear and read the support Drew and I have received,’ she added.
‘Waking up to a message from a celebrities I look after or looked after years ago has just been wonderful.
‘School friends I haven’t seen in years, to complete strangers sending me words of hope, was something that kept me going.
‘My friend Abbie Chatfield put a call out. It was incredibly kind of her and I’m so very grateful.
‘I couldn’t believe they took the time and their hard-earned money to help a stranger. Drew and I are very moved and forever grateful.
‘All of this, this terrible tragedy, could easily have been avoided if only the hospital had helped Drew and not turned him away.’
For confidential crisis support call Lifeline on 13 11 14
Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
