Australian cabaret star Hans will be airlifted to a London hospital for surgery after falling 4 metres while performing on a cruise ship off the coast of Turkey last week.
The Adelaide entertainer, whose real name is Matt Gilbertson, was on a tour with Atlantis Events when he fell from the stage into an orchestra pit, suffering injuries to his spine and foot.
His manager, David Wilson, told ABC Radio Adelaide this morning that Gilbertson is still in hospital in Turkey.
"What we are trying to do is get him airlifted by air ambulance out of Turkey and into London, where he can get the proper care and surgery that he's going to need," he said.
"It's a very delicate operation, a very complicated kind of operation, the injuries he sustained that we know of at the moment … is that it's a shattered foot and ankle and a number of … fractures to the spine."
Mr Wilson said it was a complicated process to arrange for the transfer, including the cooperation of travel insurance companies and medical authorities.
"Both the attending doctor in Turkey needs to sign off that he is fit to fly and there won't be any complications while he is in a jet for a number of hours while in altitude and the receiving doctor needs to sign off and confirm that he will accept the patient on arrival and put him straight into care there," he said.
At this stage, Gilbertson is expected to be flown into London on Wednesday morning directly to a private hospital.
"They've already identified which surgeon will take care of him and he's very senior and highly respected and for that, we are so grateful," Mr Wilson said.
"We could arrange to have the surgery done in Turkey, even if he was to transfer maybe to Istanbul, but the downside to that is obviously post-op, you need to stay where you are for a period of weeks for recovery and recoup and flying would not be an option.
"That means he would be basically alone for that period of recovery time in a city where he has no support and in a city where English is not the first language."
Mr Wilson said Gilbertson had a good social network of friends who could visit and support him in London.
He said he had been communicating with the performer regularly.
"He still makes me laugh … there are some phone calls where he is talking through gritted teeth of pain and it's very 'straighty one-eighty' and other times where he is a bit more playful where perhaps he's maybe just been freshly medicated and he's a little bit more relaxed."
Hans has been a popular face at Adelaide Fringe and rose to international fame after appearing in the America's Got Talent in 2018.
On Saturday, his agency, Watercooler Talent, issued a statement saying that Hans "has regretfully had to withdraw" from his headline act at the Broken Heel Festival in Broken Hill next month.
"Future shows are currently on stand-by until we have more of an idea of my recovery plan" Hans posted on his own social media.
"I want to thank everyone in the audience on Thursday night for being so understanding when this occurred and to those who have already sent very kind messages of support."
