Welcome home: The Aldorff woman traveled to the USA after a serious motorcycle rider accident – the Aldorf

28 years old, had a motorcycle accident four months ago.
3 hours ago

Altdorf – The emotional rollercoaster ride of the Preu family from Altdorf is over: Four months after her major motorcycle accident in the USA, her daughter Katarina returns to Germany. The Nuremberg-based airline has flown back. Now the family is looking for a suitable place for rehabilitation.

On October 10, 2020, Brio, who has lived in the US for many years and has been studying to become a nurse, fell into canyons near Utah’s capital, Salt Lake City, on his way home. The car changed course when attempting to brake, Katarina Brie veered off course and fell and suffered a serious head injury despite Helms.

After about 45 minutes, the unconscious woman from Altdorf was brought into the operating room – it wasn’t the only operation in the following months. As a result, doctors have repeatedly had to operate on the 28-year-old girl: to reduce the pressure inside the skull, a piece of her skull bone was removed and doctors placed her in an artificial coma for a few days. The brain drainage has been replaced by a so-called shunt, which should help reduce the pressure inside the skull to a normal value.

In addition, an incision was made into the trachea and a feeding tube was placed through the abdominal wall. The family said at the time: “Doctors say we need a lot of time and patience and we must not let the constant ups and downs disturb us.”

Collective funding for air ambulance

But not only the state of health did not allow the transportation back for a long time, financing the ambulance trip was also very difficult at first. Since she had no health insurance in Germany due to her long stay in the USA, there was no agency that could cover costs between 70,000 and 100,000 euros. So Preus started a fundraising campaign: they described the fate of Katarina on an online platform and created a donation account – with great success: in a short time, more than 50,000 euros were raised and the obstacles to the ambulance journey were much smaller.

After the FAI airline became involved in Nuremberg and offered support, it seemed the family’s saga was finally over. “Our original offer was for a smaller machine, the Learjet 60. As a concession, we offered the Preu family a free upgrade to a larger machine, the Challenger 604,” confirmed Martin Mulmeier, FAI’s Director of Operations. End of December.

But again it was poor health that prevented the return of the transfer. “We are in the United States once a week and we always inform the Bree family when we come back. But until now, their medical condition has prevented us from transferring,” Mulmeier said, describing the situation.

Since Thursday in Nuremberg

Relief message from doctors last week: Catarina’s health is stable so far, and nothing stands in the way of her being returned to Germany. Reviewing the past, Brother Julius Brio said, “FAI then tried to organize a flight for us at short notice. On Monday we received news that a plane was en route from Nuremberg to the US and could return home on Wednesday” eventful days.

Since Thursday, Katharina Bro has been in German soil under her feet again and is currently in the Nuremberg clinic. Her brother explains, “We are now in the process of finding a suitable rehabilitation situation for her so that she can continue treatment as soon as possible.”

Mother Frederick is still by her side. She spent a significant portion of the time on site in the United States and accompanied her daughter home on the plane. “The two were initially isolated by the aura, although the test was negative. But that’s totally normal,” knows Julius Bro, who can’t wait until he can hold his sister in his arms again.

Thanks to the supporters

Once again, the brother who lives in Austria takes the opportunity to thank all the supporters of the comeback campaign on behalf of the entire family. “Thank you so much for all the donations and the people who helped and supported us and made our way a little easier. For the kind and comfortable words and gestures that we’ve received over the past few months.” If the quarantine continues without any problems, the Altdorf family will soon be reunited.