Stranded Crash Victim Back Home

[Pattaya_Fox]

Stranded crash victim back home

Richard Price was left partially brain damaged in the accident

A man from Kent who was stranded for months in Thailand without the medical treatment he needed following a road accident has been flown back to the UK.

Richard Price, from Dover, was left in a coma after falling off a motorbike, but he had no travel insurance.

His mother June could not afford the thousands of pounds needed to fly him home with a paramedic.

But thanks in part to the generosity of BBC South East Today viewers he arrived back at Heathrow on Wednesday night.

Mr Price came off his motorbike in Pattaya last November.

'Absolutely fantastic'

The accident left him in a coma for weeks, and he also suffered fluid on the lungs and partial brain damage.

His hospital bills have been in excess of £30,000.

Speaking on his arrival back in the UK, Mrs Price said she was very grateful to all the people who had helped to fund the cost of her son's journey home.

"Everyone's been absolutely fantastic," she said. "Without them I couldn't have done it, and I owe them so much.

"All I can say is thank you to them from the bottom of my heart because he's on British soil and I know he's going to be taken care of and looked after."

BBC News

31st January 2008

[TheAceFace]

Richy is a friend of mine and many others in Pattaya, whilst he was here he was well looked after, whilst in hospital and when he returned home.

I think Mrs Price has a very short memory.

[cali4995]

Going back a few months, they had a press conference over some new

"tourist emergency fund" they were creating which I thought was for

instances exactly like this. People who were a victim of a crime or

accident and had unforeseen medical/recovery expenses. At the time I

thought that was a really good idea because every week people get hit

just trying to cross the street here. Whatever happened to that project?

Edited February 1, 2008 by cali4995

[Westerner]

He had no insurance!!!

[EmCross]

He had no insurance!!!

I agree, a bit stupid to come to Thailand and especially Pattaya without any medical insurance; it is not that expensive and worth it just for peace of mind in case such an incident should happen as described here.

[Basil B]

He had no insurance!!!

I agree, a bit stupid to come to Thailand and especially Pattaya without any medical insurance; it is not that expensive and worth it just for peace of mind in case such an incident should happen as described here.

Their are quit a few people who travel without insurance, with the idea that if they need emergency treatment they will get it even if they do not do not have the means to pay.

Unfortunately we never seem to hear from those who did not get the treatment that would have saved their lives...

A few years ago I meet a girl in Phuket who supported her sister who lost a leg in a motorbike accident, I commented on the fact that there seemed to be a lot of amputees in Thailand and was told this was due to fact that it was cheaper to amputate than operate on a complicated fractures so if the family was poor, amputation would be the only option.

BB