The shattered family of a Perth man fear a mystery illness he contracted on a dream cruise holiday could kill him before he’s flown back to this weekend.
Dave Crocos, 68, was celebrating his semi-retirement with his wife Jo on the cruise of a lifetime, travelling from Los Angeles, through Hawaii and the Pacific to end in Sydney.
They set off on the trip on October 8 but shortly after the ship left Hawaii, Mr Crocos’ health took a turn for the worse.
He began suffering from fever and aches and spent a week bedridden in his cabin before cruise doctors decided he needed hospital treatment.
The cruise was rushed to American Samoa where Mr Crocos was admitted to the LBJ Tropical Medicine Centre on the island of Pago Pago on October 25.
The hospital is not equipped to treat the recently retired land surveyor and for more than a week he has remained undiagnosed as his condition continues to deteriorate.
The family is now in a race against time and described the situation as ‘dire’.
Perth retiree Dave Crocos (above) is fighting to survive a mystery illness in American Samoa while waiting for a medevac flight to
Mr Crocos (pictured with his wife Jo) set out on a cruise from America to Sydney with his family on October 8 before being hospitalised on the island of Pago Pago on October 25
His son Matthew Bierberg fears his father could die by the end of the week if he isn’t evacuated to .
‘Time’s against us,’ he told 7News.
‘My mum and sister are with him in hospital, sleeping on the floor. We don’t know if he’s going to survive.’
Mr Bierberg said his father is an adamant believer in insurance and even completed a pre-trip health checkup to ensure he was fi and healthy enough to go on the cruise.
A few weeks on, he’s relies on a ventilator to breathe.
The family had managed to arrange a medevac flight to New Zealand but it was abandoned at the last minute due to a shortage of hospital beds.
Mr Crocos’ (second left) wife (left) and daughter have spent a week with him in hospital while waiting for a medevac flight
Their best hope is that Mr Crocos can hang on long enough for a scheduled evacuation flight to Brisbane on Saturday.
‘He’s deteriorating rapidly. I don’t think he has days,’ Mr Bierberg said.
In an interview with Nine News, Mr Bierberg said his family is ‘fearing the worst’.
‘[When he first got sick] he started sweating a lot and it got worse and worse where he couldn’t actually get out of bed, he was aching,’ he said.
Mr Bierberg explained the Samoan doctors have an idea of what could be wrong with his father but aren’t able to officially diagnose or treat it.
‘They believe it’s gallbladder related but they don’t have the technology or equipment to diagnose it properly,’ he said.
A medevac flight to Brisbane has been scheduled for Saturday but Mr Crocos’ son, Matthew Bierberg (above), is unsure he’ll survive that long
If the family do manage to make it through the ordeal, they hope their travel insurance will cover the cost of the medical episode.
‘He [Mr Crocos] wouldn’t drive a car without insurance, he’s always got himself covered for the worst case scenario,’ Mr Bierberg said.
has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.