The victims of Queensland’s Ravenshoe cafe explosion face up to 50 hours of surgery in their initial recovery phase and possibly years of rehabilitation, say doctors.
Eight of the 20 people injured when an out-of-control ute triggered a gas bottle explosion at the Serves You Right Cafe on Tuesday remain in a critical condition in the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH).
The tragedy southwest of Cairns has claimed the life of the cafe’s manager, 37-year-old Nicole Nyholt, while a 48-year-old man is the most recent to have been transferred to Brisbane from the far north. His condition is listed as stable.
The most severely injured patients remain in induced comas to manage their ventilation and keep them pain-free.
But Michael Rudd, the director of the RBWH burns unit, says he cannot be confident of their chances of survival until the wounds are at least 80% closed.
“It might take 30, 40 or 50 hours in the operating theatre on one case,” Dr Rudd said on Saturday.
“That will give you an idea about how complicated it is and how slow it is to get all their wounds closed. That’s the point that we can really be confident that they are going to survive.”
Dr Rudd’s team is using a combination of techniques to close the wounds, including skin from the reharvesting of a patient’s own donor site and tissue from Queensland’s skin bank.
The patients’ families were visited by the state’s health minister, Cameron Dick, on Saturday.
“Those families are showing great stoicism and courage at a very difficult time, and I was lifted up by them when I met them,” he said.
“We need to support them now and in the future.”
On Saturday, Ravenshoe residents received a delivery of 400 roses from the Tully Chamber of Commerce – a town about 80km southeast.
“The Ravenshoe community is a very resilient community,” the Tablelands regional council mayor, Rosa Lee Long, said.
“They’ve gone through tough times over several decades now, with one thing or another, including Cyclone Larry and Yasi. They are all pulling together and I’m sure we’ll come through this.”
The 60-year-old man who was driving the utility remains in a serious condition in Cairns hospital as police investigate whether a medical condition triggered the crash.