Edinburgh woman Jennifer Walsh able to speak and walk again after Croatia balcony fall

An Edinburgh woman left with horrific injuries after she plunged from a balcony while on holiday in Croatia is now able to speak and walk in hospital.
Jennifer Walsh, 22, travelled with friends for a holiday in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik but was rushed to hospital after falling from a balcony.Jennifer Walsh, 22, travelled with friends for a holiday in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik but was rushed to hospital after falling from a balcony.
Jennifer Walsh, 22, travelled with friends for a holiday in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik but was rushed to hospital after falling from a balcony.

Jennifer Walsh suffered a brain bleed, skull fractures, a punctured lung and multiple broken bones after she fell from the height in Dubrovnik, where she was on holiday with a friend, on October 2.

The impact of the fall had caused all of her ribs on her left side to break and she also suffered a broken wrist.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The 22-year-old, who was given just a 50 per cent chance of survival, underwent emergency brain surgery and was placed in a medically-induced coma, from which she awoke days later and was allowed to fly home to Scotland to continue her treatment.

Read More
Edinburgh woman Jennifer Walsh to return home after Croatia balcony fall

Her sister has now revealed Jennifer is close to returning to her usual self as she continues on the road to recovery.

Sara Walsh, 20, said: “My sister is doing amazing.

“I am so happy at how well she is doing, talking more and able to say more words and sentences.

“She is able to walk assisted and understand us 100 percent and just really being her usual self.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Of course the recovery will take a while but she is coming on so well.

“Thank you God for saving her. She definitely has a guardian angel looking over her.

“Jen is now recovering in hospital and has been moved into a new ward which is also a good sign.

“Thank you to the doctors who saved my sister’s life – without them our Jen wouldn't be here. Thank you for not only saving her but also doing an amazing job.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The family plan to return to Croatia in the future once Jennifer has made a full recovery.

Sara said: “Another thank you to the apartment owners Anton and Maria. I honestly have no words for kindness to my parents while they were in Croatia.

“This is what being human is about. They literally treated my parents as their own family during the worst time of our lives.

“We have as a family planned to revisit Croatia once Jennifer has fully recovered. Anton and Maria will always be special people to us.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A GoFundMe page set up by Sara following the accident will close at the end of this week and has raised more than £41,400.

She added: "The response from social media has been unreal. I literally did not expect what we received with donations, love and prayers.

"Because of GoFundMe we were able to bring my sister home so quickly so she could recover in her own country with her family and close friends by her side.

"Thank you so much to everyone from the bottom of our hearts, we are forever grateful for everything.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I will be closing down Jennifer’s GoFundMe page at the end of this week, as there is still a few donations to be added. I will continue to update posts of Jennifer’s recovery.

The GoFundMe page can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/jennifers-story.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.