Ryder's mother said she 'lost hope' for her daughter at one point. Photo / Nine News
Ryder's mother said she 'lost hope' for her daughter at one point. Photo / Nine News
A Western Australian woman who spent 18 days in a coma after being diagnosed with coronavirus has emerged to find a very different world.
Mandurah mother-of-four Kiri-Lee Ryder, 41, began feeling sick while holidaying on the Ruby Princess cruise ship with her husband, son and friends.
The virus tore through the ship and sparked cases in Australia and New Zealand. Sixteen cases in Hawke's Bay have been linked back to the ship which docked in Napier on 14 March.
After disembarking and returning to Perth, she then attended a virus clinic where she tested positive for Covid-19.
Hours later, doctors told Ryder to say goodbye to her family as she needed to be put in an induced coma.
"I knew what was going on from the worried look on the doctor's faces … the big words they were using," she told Seven News.
Ryder's mother said she 'lost hope' for her daughter at one point. Photo / Nine News
Over the next 18 days, coronavirus continued to sweep across the world, exploding across the United States, infecting UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and locking Australians down in their homes.
"I had lost hope at a point which it just goes to show miracles do happen," she said.
The mother and daughter were then reunited on Tuesday after Ryder emerged from the coma and was able to leave intensive care.
"Everyone was amazed that I was alive – I was quite astounded any of that had happened," Ryder told Nine.
Investigators in protective gear prepare to board the Ruby Princess cruise ship at Wollongong, Australia. Photo / AP
"Now I do understand what it meant for me to wake up … what had gone on with me medically, what had gone on with the world."
More than 6400 cases of Covid-19 have now been confirmed in Australia and 63 people have died. The Ruby Princess has been responsible for hundreds of those cases and 19 deaths.
NeedToKnow3
NSW Police have launched a criminal investigation to examine what happened when the ship docked at Sydney Harbour on March 19 and about 2700 passengers were allowed to freely disembark at Circular Quay.
But that investigation could take months, with NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller saying police may have 2500 witnesses to speak to.
Ryder was a passenger on the ill-fated Ruby Princess cruise ship. Photo / Nine News
Ryder has meanwhile urged Australians to do the right thing.
