A PAPUA New Guinea man made a four-day trip to Cairns carrying a six-year-old girl so badly injured her intestines were exposed.
Forty-year-old farmer Iambai Pisau was called to his niece's PNG village school on the border of Indonesia last Thursday afternoon after she fell out of a classroom window and landed on a sharp hibiscus tree.
The fall pierced young Dulcie Nakai's abdomen, exposing her intestines.
Mr Pisau took his niece to their remote PNG village's first aid post by canoe only to find the medical officer away for the night distributing donated mosquito nets.
He treated his niece as best he could using a bandage and Panadol before the pair endured a five-hour ambulance ride to another PNG town, Morehead, last Friday.
From Morehead, the two travelled eight hours in a motorised dinghy, which constantly broke down, before spending the night in a bush hut at the mouth of a crocodile-infested river.
On Sunday, it was another four hours in the dinghy to get to Boigu Island, in the Torres Strait.
A medical team on the island organised a helicopter transfer to Thursday Island where the pair was met by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and flown to Cairns, arriving early Monday morning.
Surgeons at Cairns Base Hospital successfully conducted life-saving surgery on Dulcie and she is now resting comfortably.
Mr Pisau told The Cairns Post he had spoken to Dulcie's parents while still in PNG and it was decided he was the best person to take her to find medical help.
Mr Pisau said the extent of his niece's injuries demanded she receive quality care, so he made a bid to get her to
Australia.
"It was a long way and she was in pain the whole way," he said.
"I did it because that's what I had to do.
"I was thinking I might lose her because the transport was becoming hard.
"But that's what I was trying to do, get her to Australia."
Mr Pisau said his niece was distressed and in a lot of pain during the journey, but he said she was extremely brave and looking a lot better after her surgery.
Mr Pisau said he was embarrassed at the suggestion of being called a hero, instead saying Queensland Health staff deserved all the praise for saving his niece's life.
A Queensland Health spokesman said they could not give out details about the child or allow for her to be photographed without the written consent of her parents, who were in PNG and unable to be contacted.
Cairns Papua New Guinea and Wantoks Association president Andy Fletcher said he was extremely grateful to Queensland Health staff for the effort and professionalism they put into Dulcie's recovery.
The pair are expected to stay in Cairns for at least two weeks while Dulcie's recovery is monitored.
