The family of a 20-year-old British backpacker who suffered catastrophic injuries after falling from a pickup truck in Pattaya have announced the “devastating decision” to stop his life support treatment.

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Ethan Lacey, from Birmingham, was seriously injured after falling from a vehicle at a busy Pattaya intersection on May 17. The young factory worker suffered multiple brain injuries and was placed on life support in a Thai hospital.

His grandmother, Andrea Chatwin, launched a GoFundMe appeal after Ethan’s travel insurance expired shortly before the incident. The fundraiser was initially created to help cover mounting hospital costs and explore options to bring him back to the UK.

Ethan’s family said doctors informed them that his brain injuries were “extremely severe” and that he would be left “completely bedridden” with no ability to breathe independently. The family said they agreed with doctors to stop all active treatment and move Ethan to palliative care.

In an update shared through the appeal, the family said: “We made the devastating decision to agree to stop all active treatment and move Ethan onto palliative care.” They added that despite paperwork being signed to withdraw treatment, Ethan was “still breathing and his vital stats remain quite stable”.

The family are now exploring options for medical repatriation to the UK. However, they said they have been quoted costs of “around GBP150,000 or more” to arrange specialist transport and care.

Ethan had travelled to Thailand for a two-month holiday after taking time off work. He spent part of the trip travelling with his cousin before visiting Pattaya alone for a few days.

Witnesses told local media that Ethan fell from the back of a moving pick-up truck while approaching a busy junction. His head reportedly struck the road surface and he may then have been hit again by the vehicle.

His father, Kevin, 40, said a witness claimed Ethan had been thrown from the truck during an argument before ending up beneath the rear wheels. The driver allegedly fled the scene without stopping.

Kevin previously said doctors had given Ethan only “a 30 per cent chance” of survival after he suffered three brain bleeds. He added that the family became alarmed when Ethan stopped replying to messages for three days, after previously being in regular contact.

The Sun reported that among the final messages Ethan sent home was: “I love you.” His father described him as someone who “lights the room up” and said he was “full of life and always having banter with people”. Authorities have released no update on the ongoing investigation.

Picture courtesy of The Sun

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Did he fall, or was he thrown?

Driver running away suggests thrown to me.

Edited May 27May 27 by BritManToo

has to

be cctv especially on a busy road cctv / car cam etc

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Did he fall, or was he thrown?

Driver running away suggests thrown to me.

What did he do on the pickup? You don't need to marter your brain to find out it's dangerous. q.e.d.

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Did he fall, or was he thrown?

Driver running away suggests thrown to me.

Apparently jumped out of the rear of a moving pickup during an argument while it was turning a corner and managed to get run over by the same pickup.

Turning off is for the best if brain damage which is likely

Edited May 28May 28 by scubascuba3

"... The driver allegedly fled the scene without stopping..."

So, that's it then?

Surely there has to be some police follow up, if for no other reason than closure for the family!

3 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The family are now exploring options for medical repatriation to the UK. However, they said they have been quoted costs of “around GBP150,000 or more” to arrange specialist transport and care.

Wouldn't it be better to have a trusted UK doctor come to check him out,

before pulling the plug ?

Sorry , but I do not have much faith in Thai doctors/hospitals , especially in life or death decisions.

6 minutes ago, FlorC said:

Wouldn't it be better to have a trusted UK doctor come to check him out,

before pulling the plug ?

Sorry , but I do not have much faith in Thai doctors/hospitals , especially in life or death decisions.

No need UK doctor - maybe a closer to home and cheaper option - HK or SG or a doctor from Bumugrad or Samtivej doctor nearby for a second opinion.

“Witnesses told police that a black Toyota Hilux Revo pickup truck, registration from Bangkok, had been travelling normally with the foreign man as a passenger when he suddenly jumped from the moving vehicle as it approached the junction.”

The earliest report on this was that he jumped. I recall discussion at the time as to whether drink or drugs might have been a factor.This report says that witnesses say he fell. Both reports say that the pick up driver just drove off.

It would take a proper police investigation using cctv to check witness statements, to work out the true reason for the tragedy.

Either way, a desperate decision to be made by the family.

14 minutes ago, FlorC said:

Wouldn't it be better to have a trusted UK doctor come to check him out,

before pulling the plug ?

Sorry , but I do not have much faith in Thai doctors/hospitals , especially in life or death decisions.

Not at all, if he has brain damage best to pull the plug, family didn't want to pay the medical expenses which would only get worse

"The family are now exploring options for medical repatriation to the UK. However, they said they have been quoted costs of “around GBP150,000 or more” to arrange specialist transport and care."==> This goes counter to the decision made to withdraw treatment when there is medical consensus that there is no realistic chance of recovery or meaningful improvement. > As correctly pointet outin previous posts, the family needs to get a second and third opinion before pulling the plug.

20 years old. Terribly sad.

Well people suggesting the parents being told to get other doctors from other hospitals to assess the guy is a bit rich

When doctors in this hospital are keeping the guy alive not for them he would have died

I'm so sorry to hear about that, and hoping the universe will be with his family. Damn, he was just a kid.

5 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

The family of a 20-year-old British backpacker who suffered catastrophic injuries after falling from a pickup truck in Pattaya have announced the “devastating decision” to stop his life support treatment.

Get today's headlines by email

Ethan Lacey, from Birmingham, was seriously injured after falling from a vehicle at a busy Pattaya intersection on May 17. The young factory worker suffered multiple brain injuries and was placed on life support in a Thai hospital.

His grandmother, Andrea Chatwin, launched a GoFundMe appeal after Ethan’s travel insurance expired shortly before the incident. The fundraiser was initially created to help cover mounting hospital costs and explore options to bring him back to the UK.

Ethan’s family said doctors informed them that his brain injuries were “extremely severe” and that he would be left “completely bedridden” with no ability to breathe independently. The family said they agreed with doctors to stop all active treatment and move Ethan to palliative care.

In an update shared through the appeal, the family said: “We made the devastating decision to agree to stop all active treatment and move Ethan onto palliative care.” They added that despite paperwork being signed to withdraw treatment, Ethan was “still breathing and his vital stats remain quite stable”.

The family are now exploring options for medical repatriation to the UK. However, they said they have been quoted costs of “around GBP150,000 or more” to arrange specialist transport and care.

Ethan had travelled to Thailand for a two-month holiday after taking time off work. He spent part of the trip travelling with his cousin before visiting Pattaya alone for a few days.

Witnesses told local media that Ethan fell from the back of a moving pick-up truck while approaching a busy junction. His head reportedly struck the road surface and he may then have been hit again by the vehicle.

His father, Kevin, 40, said a witness claimed Ethan had been thrown from the truck during an argument before ending up beneath the rear wheels. The driver allegedly fled the scene without stopping.

Kevin previously said doctors had given Ethan only “a 30 per cent chance” of survival after he suffered three brain bleeds. He added that the family became alarmed when Ethan stopped replying to messages for three days, after previously being in regular contact.

The Sun reported that among the final messages Ethan sent home was: “I love you.” His father described him as someone who “lights the room up” and said he was “full of life and always having banter with people”. Authorities have released no update on the ongoing investigation.

Picture courtesy of The Sun

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Brit-tourist-critical-after-Pattaya-truck-fall

Foreigner-hurt-after-jumping-from-pickup-in-Pattaya

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Adapted by ASEAN Now The-Sun 28 May 2026

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Very sad. Sounds like he could live in this state for years.

2 hours ago, riverhigh said:

As correctly pointet outin previous posts, the family needs to get a second and third opinion before pulling the plug.

According to the latest GFM update they have done just that but cannot find another hospital willing to take him.

4 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

According to the latest GFM update they have done just that but cannot find another hospital willing to take him.

if the family had paid the money they hospital would take him

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Not at all, if he has brain damage best to pull the plug, family didn't want to pay the medical expenses which would only get worse

Like the old saying goes..it's no good fogging a dead horse. It's very sad for the family but they did the best thing and it will end his life and put him out of his misery.

So it sounds like he wasn’t the youngster in the earlier video clip who was filmed doing some kind of backflip and landing on the road.

If there was an argument and he’d been thrown out surely there should be police involved looking for a manslaughter charge , someone should never go Scot free for ending his life .

Are his family actually there beside him going into palative care

My heart goes out to the poor little bugger , as someone who lost my youngest son at just 25 years of age I feel the parents never ending pain

7 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

ck of a moving pick-up truck while approaching a busy junction. His head reportedly struck the road surface and he may then have been hit again by the vehicle.

His father, Kevin, 40, said a witness claimed Ethan had been thrown from the truck during an argument before ending up beneath the rear wheels.

Has that been explained yet ?

How he could manage to get run over by the vehicle he fell from ?

4 hours ago, riverhigh said:

"The family are now exploring options for medical repatriation to the UK. However, they said they have been quoted costs of “around GBP150,000 or more” to arrange specialist transport and care."==> This goes counter to the decision made to withdraw treatment when there is medical consensus that there is no realistic chance of recovery or meaningful improvement. > As correctly pointet outin previous posts, the family needs to get a second and third opinion before pulling the plug.

No, they don't.

4 hours ago, FlorC said:

Wouldn't it be better to have a trusted UK doctor come to check him out,

before pulling the plug ?

Sorry , but I do not have much faith in Thai doctors/hospitals , especially in life or death decisions.

Exactly my thoughts, God bless him 🙏🙏

The problem for tourist cities such as Phuket and Pattaya is the tourists arriving are getting younger and younger. Many of these people barely out of their teens and they are totally in disbelief what goes on when they arrive in these cities. Being young they are very easily led. In this case the driver may not have done anything wrong. He may have panicked and did a runner when he seen the young guy laying on the road. PS : when I first went to Pattaya in 1997 it was regarded as a haven for pensioners, it was rare to see a guy under 50 years old. Drugs have certainly changed that.

Shame.

You don't need to fly-in experts to review his case, except to waste huge amounts of money and create more debt for the family.

Permanent brain damage does not need foreign experts to review. When brain function ceases -that's it. He took a header from a moving vehicle and cracked open his skull.

Beyond romance novels, there are no experts in Swiss clinics with revolutionary treatments, one does not come back from cracking the skull open so brain bleeds out.

2 minutes ago, Iron Tongue said:

Shame.

You don't need to fly-in experts to review his case, except to waste huge amounts of money and create more debt for the family.

Permanent brain damage does not need foreign experts to review. When brain function ceases -that's it. He took a header from a moving vehicle and cracked open his skull.

Beyond romance novels, there are no experts in Swiss clinics with revolutionary treatments, one does not come back from cracking the skull open so brain bleeds out.

It's a real tragedy when you consider what we got up to when we were his age. Fortunately we were lucky to survive to be where we are today.

6 minutes ago, Rams86 said:

The problem for tourist cities such as Phuket and Pattaya is the tourists arriving are getting younger and younger. Many of these people barely out of their teens and they are totally in disbelief what goes on when they arrive in these cities. Being young they are very easily led. In this case the driver may not have done anything wrong. He may have panicked and did a runner when he seen the young guy laying on the road. PS : when I first went to Pattaya in 1997 it was regarded as a haven for pensioners, it was rare to see a guy under 50 years old. Drugs have certainly changed that.

Yep. Likely the driver panicked and ran. But I disagree about "younger and younger" tourists. Thailand was "discovered" by American servicemembers for R&R during the Vietnam War. The average age of American soldiers was 19.

20 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Most large hospital have wards that they call 'the vegetable patch'. And I don't say that with any unkindness.

Would be a good name for a bar in Pattaya ?

No investigations going on.

The usual conflict of information? Was he thrown? Or did he jump? There must be CCTV at that junction?

If he was arguing this suggests one of two things, there was someone in the back of the pick up with him or he was leaning forward to look through the drivers side window?

Its possible but I would suggest extremely unlikely that he was arguing with someone outside the truck.

CCTV is really needed to answer what exactly happened.

As for the driver fleeing thats common practice in Thailand.

Bottom line, its an extremely sad conclusion to this young man's life.

5 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

So, that's it then?

Surely there has to be some police follow up

No, that is not "it" as the report clearly stated..

"...on the ongoing investigation"