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He is an Australian tourist who suffered life-changing injuries after a head-on motorbike collision in Bali, Indonesian police say.
Benji Ward, 24, suffered serious head injuries and fractured four bones, including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin, in a head-on collision at 2 a.m. last Thursday morning in North Kuta District, Badung Regency, Bali.
Supporters have donated more than $40,000 after a GoFundMe page was set up by Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett to raise money for his surgery and medical evacuation to Melbourne.
A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward was injured in a hit-and-run, a claim he echoed in comments made from his hospital bed four days ago.
“They (the police) are trying to find the Russian who hit me because he also hit another person the same night and broke his arm,” Mr Ward said.
But now Daily Mail Australia can reveal there was no hit and run, according to local police.
Instead, Mr Ward on Monday signed a ‘peace agreement’ through an intermediary to pay compensation to Russian driver Dmitry Akimenko to avoid being charged with a code breach of the road.
Benji Ward (pictured), 24, suffered severe head trauma and fractured four bones, including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin, in the head-on crash at 2 on Thursday morning hours in North Kuta district, Bali. Badung Regency
Supporters have donated over $40,000 after Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his surgery and medical evacuation to Melbourne .
Mr Ward, who was driving a Yamaha NMax fitted with a 155cc engine early in the morning, allegedly tried to pass another driver as he passed into a lane of oncoming traffic. It then collided with Mr. Akimenko’s Kawasaki Ninja.
Mr. Ward was seriously injured, while Mr. Akimenko suffered relatively minor knee injuries.
Daily Mail Australia understands Mr Ward has agreed to pay just over $1,000 to cover Mr Dmitry’s medical bills and $3,500 to pay for damage to his bike.
“It was not a hit and miss accident and both sides decided to resolve the matter through a peace agreement,” said Badung Police Chief Teguh Priowarsono.
There is no suggestion that Ms Scarlett knew the hit-and-run had not taken place when she set up GoFundMe.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Ward and Ms Scarlett for comment on the new revelations.
A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward had been injured in a hit-and-run (pictured), a claim he echoed in comments made from his hospital bed four days ago (pictured) below).
An update on the GoFundMe page suggesting Mr Ward was involved in a hit and run and that police are looking for the other driver has been deleted.
On Monday, Ms Scarlett shared a breakdown of Mr Ward’s current medical bills on the GoFundMe page and claimed the total bill so far was $39,000.
On the same day, Mr Ward shared an aeromedical recovery quote from the Australian Air Ambulance for $180,750 to his Instagram Stories.
“Some people have the audacity to try to say I’m trying to make money off the flight home so here goes,” he captioned the post.
“Don’t think in the situation I’m in it’s necessary, but some low lives clearly have nothing better to do than (sic) talk bullshit.”
On Monday, Mr Ward shared this update from his hospital bed
He also responded to critics who allegedly suggested he was trying to make money off his flight home.
Mr Ward needed an urgent blood transfusion and underwent surgery to puncture a metal halo splint in his right leg.
“Everything is fine, the operation went well,” Mr Ward said from his hospital bed four days ago.
“I had another operation in three weeks, I have Halo at the moment and there is no bleeding from the brain – all the blood from my head has stopped so everything looks positive.”
He also thanked friends and family who donated.
Ms Scarlett, who is a model and OnlyFans influencer, is in shape to represent Australians in Bali suffering from some form of medical crisis.
She was previously the de facto media spokesperson for baby “Lucky’s” family.
Mr Ward (pictured left) will have a metal splint pierced in his leg, requiring him to use a wheelchair for months.
OnlyFans model and actress Bailey Scarlett created the GoFundMe page for her friend Mr. Ward. She also acted as the de facto media spokesperson for Baby Lucky’s parents, Honey and Pan Ahimsa, in February. There is no suggestion that Ms Scarlett knew the hit-and-run had not taken place when she set up the GoFundMe.
In February, the family captured the hearts of the nation when Lucky’s mother, Honey Ahimsa, launched a desperate attempt to organize a medical evacuation.
Her daughter, then seven weeks old, had to return to Australia to receive life-saving treatment not available in Indonesia.
Ms Ahimsa, a wellbeing influencer and mother-of-two from Melbourne, said doctors in Bali were giving her baby a 50 per cent chance of survival.
Nearly $200,000 was raised within days by kind-hearted donors who rallied behind the stranded family as Lucky battled sepsis, severe pneumonia, lung failure and RSV bronchiolitis.
She was airlifted to Brisbane on a medical evacuation flight in February and doctors treated her successfully.
A few months later, in July, Daily Mail Australia revealed that Ms Ahmisa and her partner Pan, along with Lucky and their other young child, had returned to Bali where they were renovating a house.