Rachelle Escabarte: NZ trip turns to ‘nightmare’ after dirt bike crash leaves Aussie critically injured

A young Australian, who travelled to New Zealand to visit a friend, was left fighting for life after a tragic accident during a holiday on the island country.

Rachelle Escabarte, 29, flew from her home town of the Gold Coast to Hamilton after booking a last-minute flight to surprise her best friend.

After she arrived at her friend’s farm, Ms Escabarte offered to help out and began moving a dirt bike to a nearby shed for the night.

The “nightmare” incident began to unfold when she misjudged the power of the bike and suddenly accelerated it off a 1.5m retaining wall that she was unable to see in the darkness of the night, news.com.au reports.

The bike then flung around and came crashing down onto Ms Escabarte’s body, severely injuring her and causing her to become trapped under the vehicle.

Ms Escabarte’s friends rushed to her aid and pulled off the dirt bike before calling an ambulance to the grisly scene.

The 29-year-old was taken to the ICU at Hamilton’s Waikato hospital, where medical staff phoned Ms Escabarte’s family back in Australia to inform them of the frightening ordeal.

Ms Escabarte’s older sister, Ava McLean, described the earth shattering moment she received the call.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” she told news.com.au.

“That is my little sister. She is such a free spirit, and had randomly booked a last minute trip to New Zealand.

“None of even knew she was there. She had only arrived that day, and by that evening, was in the ICU fighting for her life.

“She was visiting one of her best childhood friends, who now lives over there with her husband and kids.

“Getting that phone call was so scary, I thought the worst. As soon as you hear ‘ICU and ‘induced coma’ I thought she wasn’t going to make it.”

A GoFundMe was later launched by Ms Escabarte’s friend, Kylie, who detailed the horrifying consequences of the ordeal.

“What should have been an exciting trip quickly turned into a nightmare, leaving Rachelle with life-threatening injuries and facing a long and incredibly difficult road to recovery,” the GoFundMe statement reads.

“The extent of her injuries has been severe, and we are beyond grateful she survived.

“Rachelle suffered multiple facial fractures, a subdural haemorrhage (bleeding on the brain), pneumocephalus, spinal fractures including an L1 burst fracture and T3 fracture, a collapsed lung, and traumatic injuries including her tongue being split in half, along with deep lacerations to her forehead and upper lip,” the statement continued.”

During the week following the incident, Ms Escabarte underwent four major surgeries as part of her road to recovery.

“Doctors expect Rachelle’s recovery to take at least a year at best, with the possibility of an even longer road ahead,” Kylie wrote.

In a GoFundMe Update, Kylie said Ms Escabarte has since returned home to Australia where she had to return to a local hospital as she faces ongoing health issues including broken ribs, which initially went undiscovered by medical staff.

“Further investigations revealed injuries we were previously unaware of, including a broken rib and a partially collapsed lung. While it’s difficult news to receive, it does help explain some of the pain and symptoms Rach has continued to experience,” the update states.

“At the moment, her body seems to be recovering on several different timelines, with multiple injuries and complications all healing at their own pace. Recovery remains a slow and challenging process, but she continues to take things one day at a time.”