When Chloe Debarge touched down in Australia in 2023, just months after her father died from cancer, she was carrying out one of his final wishes.
The 29-year-old walked away from a secure job as a legal assistant in Paris to rebuild her life on the other side of the world.
What she could not have foreseen was that her new start would turn into a frightening medical ordeal, leaving her stranded in Australia and urgently trying to raise thousands of dollars for surgery after doctors found a large cyst pressing perilously close to her brain.
‘I said to my dad a week before he passed away that I wanted to travel the world, maybe Canada or Australia,’ Chloe, who now lives in Kingston, Tasmania, told Daily Mail.
‘He told me, “You have to go, otherwise you’ll have regrets like me.”‘
Her father died in August 2022. Minutes after the hospital called to confirm his passing, Chloe lodged her application for an Australian Working Holiday visa.
‘I knew I had to do it for him.’
Four months later, she arrived in Sydney with little more than a suitcase and a determination to live the life her father had urged her not to postpone.
When Chloe Debarge arrived in Australia in 2023, she never imagined she would one day become trapped here, desperately trying to raise thousands of dollars for urgent surgery after doctors discovered a large cyst pressing dangerously close to her brain
She travelled around Australia before eventually taking seasonal work on Great Keppel Island in Queensland, where she met her Australian partner.
The couple later settled in Tasmania, and Chloe is now waiting for her partner visa to be approved as she builds a new life.
For more than three years, everything seemed to be falling into place. Then, in May, a seemingly ordinary neck injury changed everything.
After returning to dance, a lifelong passion she’d pursued in France, Chloe woke one morning with pain in her neck and shoulder. While sitting at work days later, she suddenly felt a loud pop before half her body went numb.
She was rushed to the emergency department, where doctors focused on what they believed was a muscular injury.
‘I had all the tests and they couldn’t find anything,’ she said.
Doctors ordered an MRI of her neck and shoulder after the pain persisted, but it was Chloe herself who first noticed something alarming.
‘When I got the images emailed to me later, I saw this big white thing in the corner of my head,’ she said.
The 29-year-old had left behind a stable career as a legal assistant in Paris to start fresh on the other side of the world in memory of her late father. Pictured: Chloe with her boyfriend in Australia
After returning to dance, a lifelong passion she’d pursued in France, Chloe woke one morning in May with pain in her neck and shoulder. While sitting at work days later, she suddenly felt a loud pop before half her body went numb
‘I thought, “What’s that?” So I went straight back to my GP.’
An urgent brain MRI followed, revealing a large mass deep inside her head. Further scans confirmed it was either a tumour or a cyst growing inside her sphenoid sinus, tucked behind her eyes and dangerously close to her brain.
Doctors later confirmed it was a large cyst and it had already compressed her optic nerve, causing her eyesight to deteriorate so rapidly she has needed multiple changes to her prescription glasses within months.
‘I always joked I could’ve been a sniper because my eyesight was perfect.
‘Now they’ve told me I’m barely legal to drive.’
An urgent brain MRI followed, revealing a large mass deep inside her head (pictured middle in green circle). Further scans confirmed it was a cyst growing inside her sphenoid sinus, tucked behind her eyes and dangerously close to her brain (circled in purple)
Even more concerning, the cyst has worn away the thin bone separating it from her brain.
‘It feels like I have a ticking bomb in my head,’ Chloe said.
‘That bone has been getting thinner and thinner. We don’t want to know what happens if it breaks.’
Looking back, Chloe now believes she’d been living with symptoms for far longer than anyone realised.
She had suffered constant headaches for years, frequent nausea and recurring infections, but always dismissed them as hormones or bad luck.
Doctors later confirmed the cyst had already compressed her optic nerve, causing her eyesight to deteriorate so rapidly she has needed multiple changes to her prescription glasses within months, and constant headaches
‘I can’t even pinpoint when the headaches started. I’ve just lived with them for so long that I thought they were normal. ‘
Earlier this year, she was hospitalised for severe throat and chest infections, spending more than a week in and out of emergency departments while requiring powerful pain medication.
Doctors now believe the cyst was disrupting her sinuses and contributing to the repeated illnesses.
Her operation, scheduled for August 7, will be complex, with surgeons detailing that they will remove the cyst through an intricate approach between her nose and eye while also reconstructing the damage caused throughout her sinus cavity.
Her deviated septum and other nasal structures will also need to be rebuilt during the same procedure.
Chloe’s operation, scheduled for August 7, will be complex, with surgeons detailing that they will remove the cyst through an intricate approach between her nose and eye while also reconstructing the damage caused throughout her sinus cavity
For the first week, Chloe will be confined almost entirely to bed to reduce the risk of bleeding or leaking cerebrospinal fluid.
After that, she faces another month of slow recovery where even travelling in a car could be too risky because of the potential impact.
‘I’m a dancer, I go to the gym, I’m super active, so it’s going to be hard,’ she said.
‘But what’s one month compared to what could happen if I don’t get the surgery?’
Despite the urgency, Chloe’s biggest hurdle isn’t the operation itself – it’s paying for it.
Although she has Medicare and private health insurance through Medibank, she hasn’t held her policy long enough for it to cover the procedure, leaving her facing almost the full cost herself.
Although she has Medicare and private health insurance through Medibank, Chloe hasn’t held her policy long enough for it to cover the procedure, leaving her to foot almost the entire $25,000 bill herself. Flying back to France isn’t an option either, as doctors have warned the pressure changes during air travel could put her at serious risk
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She has contacted the French Embassy, charities, the Red Cross and numerous organisations seeking financial assistance, but has repeatedly been turned away.
Flying back to France isn’t an option either after doctors advised she is currently unfit to fly because of the pressure changes during air travel, while her life is now firmly based in Australia.
‘I only have my French passport, but I don’t even have health insurance in France anymore because my life is here now,’ she further explained.
If Chloe cannot raise the $25,000 before her scheduled surgery on August 7th, the operation will be cancelled.
However, through the stress and fundraising efforts, Chloe said her biggest source of support has been her partner.
And her retired mother has returned to work temporarily in France to help contribute towards the medical bills.
Despite everything, Chloe remains hopeful the surgery will allow her to finally move forward with the life she worked so hard to build.
Her mother is due to visit Australia for the first time in December, and Chloe dreams of finally showing her around Sydney and Melbourne if she has recovered enough to travel.
The experience has now changed the way she views persistent health concerns and she hopes others will trust their instincts if something doesn’t feel right.
‘Stay persistent if you feel something isn’t right,’ she said.
‘Don’t worry about bothering doctors with questions. It’s much better to keep pushing for answers than ignore symptoms that could be something much bigger.’
