U$6,200 More Needed To Send Comatose German Tourist Home

[webfact]

HELPING MATHIAS KOCH FUND

US$6,200 more needed to send comatose German home

BANGKOK: -- A Thai hospital needs 6,200 dollars in additional donations to repatriate a comatose German man they have been treating gratis for the past 10 months, hospital sources said Monday.

Mathias Stefan Koch, 39, was admitted to Songklanakarind Hospital in Had Yai, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok, on October 25 after sustaining a head injury that left him in a coma at the city airport.

The hospital, which has been treating him for free since the incident, tried to contact Koch's relatives via the German embassy but failed to find anyone willing to pay for his trip home.

Last week the hospital set up a Fund for Assisting the Patient Named Mathias Stefan Koch in an attempt to raise 400,000 baht (US$12,900) from the public to fly Koch and accompanying doctors and nurses to Germany.

"So far we've raised 208,800 baht (US$6,735) or so, but still need some more to meet the expense of sending him home," said Sukanya Panthomrawee, head of the hospital's patients' rights and entitlement division.

The trip would "require special transport since Koch is still in need of extensive care." She expressed satisfaction with the response to the hospital's appeal for donations.

According to news reports, natives of Bamberg, Koch's home town, have donated generously to bring him home.

"We've been overwhelmed," said Franz Eibl, municipal spokesman in the southern German city, which has established a special bank account so that people can transfer their donations directly.

Eibl said German doctors had offered to escort the man without charge. A city court has appointed a legal representative to decide on the sick man's treatment.

In Bamberg, Eibl said the man's grandmother, who lives near the city, and some other relatives were alive.

-- The Nation 2010-09-06

Related topic

Thai Hospital Seeks Donations To Send Comatose German Tourist Home

Follow this link:

[Buchholz]

The same story with a Briton tourist needing a medical evacuation back to the UK is in need of £35,000 for that to happen:

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=384205&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20

and is in the General Forum thread:

Biker Paralysed In Crash Now Stranded In Thailand

[sirchai]

The same story with a Briton tourist needing a medical evacuation back to the UK is in need of £35,000 for that to happen:

http://www.gulf-time...38&parent_id=20

and is in the General Forum thread:

Biker Paralysed In Crash Now Stranded In Thailand

http://www.thaivisa....randed-in-thai/

I made a phone call to a local newspaper where the guy's from. It seems that others brought the story too now. Guess it's time for German officials to fly him back. And of course to pay some cash to the hospital including some presents for all involved.

Shame on the German embassy and their fools.

[kalbo123]

Strange story..

Ever heared of insurance?

[TAWP]

With the amount of taxes paid in Europe, the German government should be able to pick up the bill...

[tonititan]

Strange story..

Ever heared of insurance?

Yeah, it's unfortunate that many people do not consider insurance to be a priority. That's a personal requirement for me....if I'm going to be in another country, I am going to be sure to have good insurance that covers a medical evacuation.

[Samuian]

Strange story..

Ever heared of insurance?

well they do have policies, some make the customer pay but to get the coverage if needed, is a different story - plus the coverage does carry varying expiry formulas!

Let's assume this guy just happen to have the wrong insurance cover... what is missing in this story how the injury occurred and why this hospital as been treating him for such an extended period?

There are questions arising...

[hanno]

+what is missing in this story how the injury occurred+

Covered elsewhere on TV. Apparently he tried to get into the airport even though he was one day early for his ticket, and took a plunge.

Why is it that almost every post on TV brings out the conspiracy buffs. Not everybody gets (allegedly) chucked off buildings in Thailand; people do have accidents.....

[12DrinkMore]

With the amount of taxes paid in Europe, the German government should be able to pick up the bill...

You haven't been reading the news.

Europe is bankrupt.

[geriatrickid]

With the amount of taxes paid in Europe, the German government should be able to pick up the bill...

Ask the Greek government. Germany contributed a large sum to prop up Greece. This was done so that the German banks that had invested heavily would not suffer catastrophic loss and perhaps collapse causing millions of Germans to lose their savings and pensions and put Germany in the same situation as the USA and the UK.

It seems the Iron Maiden wasn't so wrong in her views concers about EU monetary policy.

[sirchai]

+what is missing in this story how the injury occurred+

Covered elsewhere on TV. Apparently he tried to get into the airport even though he was one day early for his ticket, and took a plunge.

Why is it that almost every post on TV brings out the conspiracy buffs. Not everybody gets (allegedly) chucked off buildings in Thailand; people do have accidents.....

He jumped down. Would you still call that an accident?

[sirchai]

With the amount of taxes paid in Europe, the German government should be able to pick up the bill...

You haven't been reading the news.

Europe is bankrupt.

Germany isn't bankrupt. Countries like Greece, Italy ,Spain and so on receive money for nothing and chicks for free. You haven't read the news.

[webfact]

UPDATE

German mayor trying to bring comatose man home

By The Nation

The mayor of a comatose man's home town in Germany has contacted the patient's hospital in Songkhla in a bid to take him back to his country.

Mathias Stefan Koch, 38, has been at Songklanakarind Hospital in Hat Yai district since October 25 when he sustained a head injury at Hat Yai International Airport.

Andreas Starke, the mayor of Bamberg in Bavaria, said the city's authorities would take him back home as soon as possible, in response to news reports in Germany and other foreign countries, including Thailand.

As Koch is still in need of intensive care, the city has prepared doctors and a suitable place to take care of him when he arrives.

The city has also opened a bank account for him so Germans can make donations directly.

The hospital set up a fund last week to raise Bt400,000 from the public to fly Koch and accompanying doctors and nurses to Germany. So far more than Bt200,000 has been collected.

Khlong Hoikhong police have concluded that the injury was self-inflicted while under stress at the airport. There were no signs of physical assault.

-- The Nation 2010-09-07

[hanno]

He jumped down. Would you still call that an accident?

Well yes, as he apparently was mentally unstable. Still a far cry from the conspiracy theories so popular on TV.

[Buchholz]

The same story with a Briton tourist needing a medical evacuation back to the UK is in need of £35,000 for that to happen:

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=384205&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20

and is in the General Forum thread:

Biker Paralysed In Crash Now Stranded In Thailand

In the related thread above, a success:

Mr. Moss Before:

Mr. Moss After:

Paralysed man rescued by secret donor

A man who was left paralysed in a Thai hospital is on his way home thanks to an anonymous benefactor. Tom Moss, a 27-year-old Chelsea fan from Tooting, was stranded in Asia because he did not have travel insurance when his moped was hit by two cars and a lorry. But after campaigns by the Wandsworth Guardian and other newspapers, his family raised £35,000 to fly him home – with the final £6,000 donated anonymously.

His sister, Jamie Harvey, 32, from Southfields, said: “It came through on Monday and we were gobsmacked. The guy obviously just saw that’s how much we needed and just put it in. I’m overwhelmed by all the generosity. Seeing the money rise over the past week was really emotional for me. “It’s down to the papers that everyone saw our story. I’d like to thank everyone who donated from the bottom of my heart.” Mr Moss, who was left almost blind and unable to move from the neck down, will return on Monday for treatment at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.

Continues:

http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/8376905.BREAKING_NEWS__Paralysed_man_rescued_by_secret_donor/

Wandsworth Guardian - September 7, 2010

[hughben]

Fair play to the hospital giving free service to the German man. I can only admire them.

They should be commended for this.

I could not imagine the same level of compassion in some of the 'famous' hospitals in Bangkok.

[webfact]

UPDATE

SAVING KOCH FUND

Comatose German patient flies home Sunday

HAT YAI: -- A comatose German patient departed Thailand Sunday aboard an International SOS aircraft taking him home for further treatment after an 11-month stay at a Thai hospital.

Mathias Stefan Koch, 39, left Hat Yai Airport - the scene of his accident almost a year ago - in the private ambulance aircraft with a German doctor and nurse who were flown in to provide medical care en route to Bamberg. The plane was expected to stop in India or Dubai for refueling.

The plight of Koch, who was admitted to Songkhlanakarin Hospital, 700 kilometres south of Bangkok, on October 25 with a severe head injury, drew an outpouring of sympathy and donations from both Thailand and Germany this month.

The Bavarian native received treatment free of charge in Thai hospital after the German embassy failed to track down relatives willing or able to pay for his return flight.

After the hospital drew media attention to Koch's case, donations were raised in both Thailand and Germany to fly the man home and to partly repay the hospital for the treatment it has provided gratis, amounting to 1.9 million baht (61,290 dollars.)

"The hospital has agreed to shoulder 40 per cent of the past treatment costs ourselves," Songkhlanakarin Hospital director Ruengsak Leethanaporn said.

"We've come to an understanding with the German embassy that they will provide us with 600,000 baht upon his departure and the additional money will be sent to us later from donations."

Donations raised in Germany were used to pay for Koch's medical evacuation and on flight treatment.

Earlier this month, Songkhlanakarin Hospital set up a fund to try to raise 400,000 baht (12,900 dollars) from the Thai public to pay for his flight to Germany.

The fund drew about 250,000 baht in donations, which will defray some of the medical expenses the hospital incurred over the past 11 months, Ruengsak said.

The hospital's donation drive sparked a similar effort in Bamberg.

Bamberg city documents showed Koch had never lived more than three months at a stretch in the city itself, but grew up in a nearby region. His grandmother and other more distant relatives are living.

Koch was admitted to the hospital after sustaining a head injury at Hat Yai airport that left him in a coma.

Koch, who was in Thailand on a tourist visa, was staying at the nearby Songkhla beach resort before his accident.

Police said he had purchased a ticket for Bangkok dated October 26, 2009, but arrived at Hat Yai Airport a day before his scheduled departure.

After being told to return the next day, Koch reportedly tried to jump into the departure area, cracking his skull in the fall.

-- The Nation 2010-09-19