'I was stranded in the jungle and needed surgery': Cork woman's ordeal on trip of a lifetime

Rachel Gotto, 56, tells Arlene Harris how a holiday in paradise turned into a hellish nightmare when she faced a life-threatening health situation

Rachel Gotto heading off on the river hike at the start of her dream holiday in South America. "We wanted to get away from connectivity – and when you go into the jungle, you’re cut off from everyone"

RACHEL Gotto has a thirst for adventure. So when she headed off on the trip of a lifetime to Suriname in March, she was excited about what lay ahead.

However, despite being fully prepared for her foray into the jungle, things didn’t go exactly as planned. In fact, far from it.

Rachel, aged 56, who is from West Cork but currently living in Galway, ended up falling seriously ill, stranded hundreds of miles from civilisation, and needing emergency surgery.

So what drew her to the small South American country in the first place?

Rachel says: "Suriname is about 95% Amazonian jungle and not a lot of tourists go there, but we were drawn to the place because the flora and fauna hasn’t had much exposure to humans, so there is the opportunity to see a lot of rare species."

“Also, we wanted to get away from connectivity — and there is no phone signal outside the capital city, so when you go into the jungle, you’re cut off from everyone.”

The plan for Rachel and her partner, Malcolm, was to spend the first week in the South American country hiking down the Saramacca River. The starting point was reached after an eight-hour drive on tough terrain.

“We had two guides and all our food and essentials in kayaks as we were to spend seven days [up to eight hours per day] going down the river, where there are many hazards, both in the water [alligators and more] and where we would camp at night,” said Rachel.

Aside from the external dangers, the couple also had to contend with searing heat, 100% humidity, sunburn, blisters, a broken toe, and hundreds of mosquito bites.

One of the guides went overboard going down a rapid, and Rachel herself was almost taken off in a current — but thankfully the four-person team managed to save each other from disaster.

Rachel found herself entering a zen-like zone during the river trek.

“We were reliant on each other and learned how to notice our environment acutely,” she says.

We were looking for hazards of course, but by day two, I noticed that I was no longer thinking of anything but what was in front of me — it was some sort of primordial sense because we were surrounded by jungle and the flow of the water.

“It felt strange, wonderful, terrific, and empty. It was as if a door had closed and we were the only people on the planet. And in a way it was true as we were the only people for hundreds of miles and our only company were the animals in the jungle, and the rain, sometimes monsoon levels, which would start suddenly. It was quite biblical. 

"I’ve never experienced anything like it, and the noise of thunder, combined with the sound of the howler monkeys, the macaws squawking, the cacique birds and the cicadas made it the most unique experience I have ever had.

“I felt so content, like I could stay there for the rest of my days.”

Setting up camp each night was eventful as the jungle was full of creatures, including scorpions, army ants, and venomous snakes, making any night-time trips to the ‘bathroom’ something of a challenge.

But despite all of the obstacles, the river hike was a success and Rachel was ready for the next leg of her trip — an expedition into the jungle to “join an indigenous tribe” whose only connection to the world was the weekly arrival of a bush plane, bringing “visitors who wanted to understand the flow of the flora and fauna of the region”.

Rachel Gotto when she first became unwell on her holiday. At first, she thought she might have food poisoning, but she was in "extreme agony" in the night and realised this was a bit more serious

Flying through a monsoon and landing on “a tiny strip in the middle of the jungle”, this is where the Cork woman’s trip of a lifetime took a turn which almost had a tragic ending.

After three days in that wildly remote area, the mother-of-one began to feel slightly unwell. This progressed to stomach pains and she thought she might have food poisoning. But, she was in “extreme agony” during the night and realised that things were a bit more serious than she thought.

Fortunately, one of the other visitors on the trip was a doctor, and after a rudimentary examination, he told Rachel that she “either had appendicitis or a problem with the gallbladder”, but either way she would need help immediately.

“At the time, it was raining very heavily, so much so that we couldn’t hear each other talk,” she recalls. “Malcolm went to find the chief of the village to see what could be done to help me, and the doctor managed to find a thermometer, stethoscope, a sterile canula, a line, and two bottles of saline solution.

“We were told that because the rain was so bad and there were thunderstorms, no plane would be able to reach us that day.

“At this point,” adds Rachel, “I had a fever of plus 40, and my heart rate had gone up — I was deteriorating at a rapid rate.

“They tried to figure out another way of getting help, but we were nine days by boat from the nearest medical support.

I was in a life-threatening situation and while part of me wanted to panic, the other part was calm. There is a sort of clarity that comes in and my only thought was my daughter, Nicola, and how I would get a message to her.

The doctor said Rachel was moving into a critical stage, and fortunately, after making contact with the nearest tiny airport, they were told there was the possibility of a helicopter being able to fly in to take her to hospital.

Too weak to be fully aware of what was going on, Rachel — a clinical hypnotherapist, grief educator, and author — was placed on a board by the villagers who carried her to the aircraft.

“I had lost touch with reality at this stage, because I remember hearing beautiful music and feeling so peaceful,” Rachel says. “But I was soon jolted back to reality and the pain was absolute agony. The flight was also excruciating — there were no doors in the helicopter and they tried to keep me hydrated as much as possible as the heat was phenomenal.”

Rachel Gotto being airlifted to hospital in Suriname. “I had lost touch with reality at this stage," she says, "because I remember hearing beautiful music and feeling so peaceful"

Upon landing, she was carried into a waiting taxi and on to the small local hospital, where, following tests, it was confirmed that she had appendicitis and would need immediate surgery.

She felt frightened, lonely, and unsure of what was happening next, as the small ‘operating theatre’ was nothing like the sterile environment she was used to at home.

Rachel was “strapped to the operating table with two paddles” because they didn’t want her arms to fall off the table, and then a mask was placed over her face and she described herself as being “awake in the dark”.

Rachel says:

I don’t know how they operated, but I was in a different form of agony to what I had been before. 

"I didn’t know what was happening, and was very confused. Then, what was probably a couple of hours later, the lights were snapped on and a troop of nurses, in the brightest white uniforms I’ve ever seen, came in and I realised that I was on a ward.

"I must have come around from the anesthetic on my own. There wasn’t any kind of post- op observations, and nobody spoke to me — it was very strange.

“I was given antibiotics via a cannula, and an injection of morphine, so it wasn’t until the next morning that I tried to make sense of the fact that I had been operated on.”

Rachel Gotto says two months after her ordeal: "I’m almost back to normal now and I feel incredibly grateful to be here"

Still reeling from the surgery, the Cork woman was overjoyed to see her partner, Malcolm, who arrived with clean clothes, toiletries, and bacterial wipes.

Rachel wanted to leave, but it was patently obvious that she wasn’t well enough, so she had to make do with staying another night in the hospital with no sheets or pillows, using her clothes to lay her head on.

“Knowing that I wouldn’t be seeing Malcom again for another 24 hours was pretty dismal, and I felt very alone and isolated,” she recalls.

“It was all very surreal and I remember at one point they opened the doors to the outside and it was raining so hard that my face and body got wet. Everything about the experience was so distressing. But I am also so grateful to everyone in the hospital as, although it was a different healthcare system, they provided everything I needed to stay alive.

They wanted me to stay for four or five days, but I wanted to move to a hotel. So the next evening, just about able to walk, we took a taxi and with a prescription for antibiotics, left for a hotel. 

"The main issue now was getting a certificate to say that I was fit to fly home.”

This came a few days later, and the adventurer says that she cried when she finally found out that she was going home to Ireland.

“When I was boarding the plane on April 7, I was so emotional,” she says. “Our first stop was Amsterdam and we considered that I could go to a hospital there, but I wanted to get back on Irish soil, so we carried on.

“We arrived in Dublin, where we were collected and taken to hospital in Galway. It was great to get checked out and they were happy with the wounds, so I was discharged and put on antibiotics for a while.”

Rachel adds: 

The whole experience has been very emotional, but one of the things that stood out to me was how phenomenal our healthcare system is — everyone loves to complain about it, but it really is incredible.

“I’m almost back to normal now and I feel incredibly grateful to be here.”

To find out more about Rachel’s adventures, follow her on Instagram @rachelvgotto