The aunt of a student left fighting for his life after ingesting rat poison in Taiwan said any extra cash raised from their $208,000 GoFundMe page would go to the medivac firm who flew him home.
However, Daily Mail Australia can reveal the chartered plane that evacuated 24-year-old Alex Shorey to Brisbane cost just a third of the total raised – $65,000 – and no such donation has been made.
Instead, his aunt Lizzie Shorey-Kitson notified donors when the successful fundraiser closed that the funds would instead be used for the student’s recovery and treatment.
Mr Shorey, from Toowoomba in southern Queensland, was studying in Taiwan on exchange when he fell ill in March this year.
At first, doctors could not establish what was wrong with him before toxicology tests later showed he had ingested the rat poison superwarfarin.
Taipei police are reportedly investigating the suspected deliberate poisoning.
Alex Shorey (left) had been fighting for his life at Taipei Medical University Hospital in Taiwan after unknowingly ingesting rat poison
A GoFundMe page, set-up on behalf of Mr Shorey’s parents, Stephen and Julie (pictured), raised almost $210,000 in a matter of days
The student’s family raised $208,662 through a widely publicised GoFundMe page set up by his aunt Ms Shorey-Kitson on April 26 to pay for his medical evacuation.
Ms Shorey-Kitson was widely quoted in the press at the time claiming the cost of the flight was quoted at around $172,000, adding that any excess funds would be donated to Medical Rescue, the company who eventually flew Alex home on 3 May.
‘Once we have Alex home, if there are any surplus funds from this GFM page, these will be paid forward via a donation to the Medical Rescue team to fund and support others who may need their urgent assistance and care,’ wrote Ms Shorey-Kitson on the GoFundMe page on 29 April.
The GoFundMe page was set up by Mr Shorey’s aunt, Lizzy Shorey-Kitson (pictured) who originally said any excess funds would be donated to Medical Rescue
However, Medical Rescue told Daily Mail Australia last week the cost of the flight was only $65,000 and a spokesperson confirmed the company has not received any donation.
‘Medical Rescue was contacted and can confirm the air ambulance cost was $65,000, which was quoted and paid for in full on 28 April,’ a spokesperson for the company said.
‘No other payments of any kind have been made and the account is closed.’
The GoFundMe page was not closed until April 30, when the following message was added: ‘Your generosity has helped fund the medical charter flight and will go towards the extensive medical rehabilitation Alex will require.’
Daily Mail Australia has asked Ms Shorey-Kitson and Alex’s father Dr Stephen Shorey to account for the any subsequent costs but is yet to receive a response to detailed written questions, several days later.
Daily Mail Australia is not alleging any wrongdoing on behalf of the Shorey family or by Ms Shorey-Kitson.
Medical Rescue (pictured) flew Mr Shorey back from Taiwan to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Queensland. His father later said: ‘I believe his medical repatriation actually saved his life’
Police in Taiwan are investigating a 45-year-old woman over the suspected poisoning
A spokesperson for GoFundMe said: ‘I can confirm that our GoFundMe Trust & Safety team is liaising with the campaign organiser in relation to this fundraiser.’
The page has since been taken down following this publication’s queries.
Alex, a University of Queensland exchange student, had been in Taiwan for a year and was weeks away from returning home to Australia when he started experiencing black skin spots and unusual bleeding.
He was admitted to Taipei Medical University Hospital’s intensive care on April 18.
After days of hemorrhaging Mr Shorey went into hypovolemic shock, meaning his organs were at risk of failing due to lack of blood.
A severe allergic reaction to a vitamin K treatment in hospital saw him go into cardiorespiratory collapse six days later.
His GP father, Dr Stephen Shorey, said his son had suffered another anaphylactic reaction shortly before leaving Taiwan.
‘I believe his medical repatriation actually saved his life,’ Dr Shorey told the ABC on 6 May.
His parents initially believed his ailment was the source of contaminated street food but Taipei police ruled this out.
It comes as police in Taiwan are investigating a 45-year-old woman – reported in local media as Mr Shorey’s girlfriend – over the suspected deliberate positioning.
Local media report that rat poison was found at the woman’s house, similar to what was in Mr Shorey’s system.
The woman is now the sole suspect of a criminal investigation and is barred from leaving the country.
In early May, English teacher Elly Chen, a close friend of Mr Shorey’s and an English-teaching colleague, said she suspected he was poisoned more than once in the period it took for doctors to work out what was wrong with him.
‘If things were getting better, why are you getting worse?’ Ms Chen told Sky News Australia.
‘What happened between the end of March and early April?
‘It doesn’t make sense to me, because once they figure out it’s rat poison, why do things go this way, right?’
She said she took Mr Shorey on his first visit to a Taipei hospital after he started urinating blood and experiencing black skin spots and in late March.
But doctors initially dismissed his case after suggesting it was a genetic issue.
Mr Shorey was then in and out of hospital for a month as doctors scrambled to work out what was wrong with him.
Ms Chen offered the exchange student the opportunity to stay with her when his condition deteriorated.
But Mr Shorey responded to say he was ‘staying at a friend’s place’.
That friend is reportedly the 45-year-old Taiwanese woman who is now under police investigation over the poisoning after officers found a 30ml bottle of rat poison at her Taipei home.
The woman has now allegedly admitted to poisoning Mr Shorey, according to local news reports.
She reportedly said that she had intended to drink the poison herself in a suicide attempt but Mr Shorey drank it by mistake.
Authorities suspect she tried to poison the Australian to stop him returning home, according to SET News.
In May, Dr Shorey said the family were ‘aware that the Taiwanese authorities are looking closely at the circumstances surrounding Alex’s illness’.
‘We don’t want to prejudice any police (investigation) by making any further comment in this matter, beyond saying that we are so grateful that our son is alive and we are eager to hear the outcome of the investigations,’ he said.
