Canadian teacher seriously injured in Phuket bike smash

[webfact]

Canadian teacher seriously injured in Phuket bike smash
Claire Connell

PHUKET: -- The parents and wife of Canadian teacher Mark Schofield, left with serious injuries after a bike smash on September 6, were due to arrive on the island yesterday (September 12), Canadian media has reported.

A fundraising website set up by the family says Mr Schofield, 34, was left in a coma for several days after the crash.

He was left with extensive injuries, including a broken jaw, two broken arms, broken collarbone and a shattered eye socket, plus brain trauma.

Doctors also removed a part of his skull to relieve pressure from brain swelling. Details of the crash are not known, other than it was a single vehicle crash.

Canadian media reported Mr Schofield arrived in Phuket in August to teach.

Family set up a fundraising website, due to Mr Schofield's "minimal medical coverage". So far more than $29,000 Canadian dollars, around B890,000, has been donated for his medical treatment.

A story from the Nova Scotia-based Nova News Now said Mark taught in Korea for seven or eight years, where he met his wife Rachel. He returned to Wolfville in Canada last year to complete an education degree.

Rachel planned to join Mark in Thailand.

Rachel and Mark’s parents, Douglas and Kathleen, were due to arrive in Phuket yesterday.

Fundraising page

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/canadian-teacher-seriously-injured-in-phuket-bike-smash-41882.php

-- Phuket News 2013-09-13

[chooka]

Hope he makes a speedy and full recovery.

[Dararasmi]

As do I.

Folks, if you're foolish enough to ride a bike anywhere in Thailand (or anywhere, for that matter), make sure you're insured up the wazoo.

[webfact]

Phuket: Canadian bike crash victim off ventilator as fundraising drive kicks in
Claire Connell


Mark Schofield. Photo taken from the fundraising page.

PHUKET: -- Mark Schofield, the Canadian teacher who was seriously injured in a motorbike smash on September 7, is showing signs of improvement: he has opened his eyes for the first time and is now off the ventilator.

Mr Schofield, who was here to teach, is currently in Vachira Phuket Hospital after he was involved in a motorbike crash on the island earlier this month.

He arrived in Phuket in August, and his wife Rachel was due to follow him here soon.

After the crash, Mr Schofield, 34, was left in a coma with extensive injuries, including a broken jaw, two broken arms, broken collarbone and a shattered eye socket, plus brain trauma.

Doctors also removed a part of his skull to relieve pressure from brain swelling. Rachel has now arrived in Phuket along with Mr Schofield’s parents.

In a statement released to The Phuket News today, family friend Teresa, who is based in Thailand and now with the family in Phuket, said Mr Schofield opened both his eyes yesterday morning, and nodded his head when asked if he could see out of both eyes.

She said the swelling on his face was improving, and he had been taken off the ventilator.

“It is still too early for us to know what he will require with respect to rehabilitation, or even the extent of any brain damage he may have incurred. Hopefully we will get some answers in the next few days about when he will be well enough to fly home and begin his recovery,” Teresa said.

Mr Schofield’s brother Scott said, “Mark was under the impression that he had medical coverage from his employers at the international school [where he taught].

"We do not know the details, other than the school sent an email to my parents the day after the accident making it clear that they would not be able to cover costs related to the accident.

“Mark was not given notice about a trial period without coverage, otherwise we would have acquired private insurance from home over the interim.”

In the statement, the family said, “Our family is humbled by the tremendous love and support expressed toward our brother Mark.

"The generosity from family, friends and even strangers is overwhelming, and we appreciate all your continued love, thoughts and prayers.

“At this time we still do not have a clear picture about his long term rehabilitation, but initial reports give us a lot of positive hope to build upon.

"It is very heartening to know the type of support we have here in Nova Scotia, which extends throughout the world. With love, the Schofield Family. “

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-canadian-bike-crash-victim-off-ventilator-as-fundraising-drive-kicks-in-41886.php


-- Phuket News 2013-09-13

[samsara]

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

[Hecate]

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

Where did you see information about his parents' finances? I hope he has a speedy recovery.

[samsara]

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

Where did you see information about his parents' finances? I hope he has a speedy recovery.

you must not have flipped through the slideshow...http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/medical-relief-for-mark/86980

[stevenl]

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

Where did you see information about his parents' finances? I hope he has a speedy recovery.

you must not have flipped through the slideshow...http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/medical-relief-for-mark/86980

Nothing there to indicate to me they have 50,000 $ or however much is necessary set aside and available for emergencies.

Why not just help them in stead of being a smartass here.

[stevehaigh]

anyone know the details of the accident?

[Jimjim]

Canadian? What about government healthcare? Thought they got that stuff free? Guess it only counts if you are in the actual country. That sucks...

I suppose he's not used to having to buy insurance for himself. Hope he recovers fully and quickly.

[slipperylobster]

Wear a helmet....bike, scooter, motorbike. Your head doesn't really care what it fell off, when it hits the ground.

[Aardvark]

Wear a helmet....bike, scooter, motorbike. Your head doesn't really care what it fell off, when it hits the ground.

Ditto, it's not Rocket Science .....

[ToddWeston]

Get well soon Mark - we need more East Coasters here.

[LivinginKata]

All the unhelpful and/or insensitive posts are being removed.

[samjaidee]

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

Where did you see information about his parents' finances? I hope he has a speedy recovery.

you must not have flipped through the slideshow...http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/medical-relief-for-mark/86980

How long ago did they buy their house?

How big is their mortgage?

Did they buy their Volvo with cash or on payments?

How many loans do they have?

Who in the family is working?

What's their total income and what are their total outgoings?

Unless you can answer all those questions then you haven't a clue about how well off they are. Maybe you are missing something.

[harrycallahan]

Well so far he's got $29,000 more than most other accident victims. How much is enough?

[Malthus101]

 

maybe im missing something, but the parents are obviously quite well off. why are they begging for money from strangers?

 

Where does it say they are well off?

Where does it say they were begging?

You see, some people have feelings, and they like to give, to strangers, to help them. Maybe you find this difficult to comprehend?


Anyway, good luck Mark.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Malthus101

[sirchai]

Hope you'll have a speedy and fully recovery. .

[NCC1701A]

he will never be the same...

[nami]

Looks like the family is doing great with the fundraising, hopefully the guy will have a successful recovery.

Does anybody know up to what extend the social security here covers? The guy, as all of us working here, was paying the monthly 600 baht. What can we really expect from this social security? (avoid Thai bashing, I am asking for facts)

[Joe Mamma]

Chances are, if you die an unnatural death here in LOS, it will be vehicle/road related and more than one variable of error will be decisive.

[harleyclarkey]

You never think this could happen to you. Sun, happy days, flying down the road with not a care in the world....when in a millisecond it all changes.

Hope you fully recover from your horrific injuries and safe home.

[LivinginKata]

All the unhelpful and/or insensitive posts are being removed.

And even more. What is wrong with some of you people

[glassdude007]

Sad story for sure...

Makes you think twice next time you get on your Honda Click...

No news in any of the local rags about this? where and when this accident occurred?

Kinda strange....

[dancep]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery....

Amazing how petty some people can go through their lives... noone is forced to donate, so why complain about a fundraising effort to help someone? They are not trying to dump the costs on Thailand or the hospital, but come up with the payment. The costs long term will be substantial.

re Canadian healthcare... if you are resident in Canada, you have very limited coverage when outside the country, so need to buy private insurance for travel. And when a non-resident like this person, you have NO Cdn govt coverage at all. In fact, usually you don't have coverage the first 3 months you move back to Canada. I am not sure if they waive that for cases like this. His costs to move back would not be covered, that can be a lot of course....

Edited September 13, 2013 by dancep

[guzzi850m2]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery....

Amazing how petty some people can go through their lives... noone is forced to donate, so why complain about a fundraising effort to help someone? They are not trying to dump the costs on Thailand or the hospital, but come up with the payment. The costs long term will be substantial.

re Canadian healthcare... if you are resident in Canada, you have very limited coverage when outside the country, so need to buy private insurance for travel. And when a non-resident like this person, you have NO Cdn govt coverage at all. In fact, usually you don't have coverage the first 3 months you move back to Canada. I am not sure if they waive that for cases like this. His costs to move back would not be covered, that can be a lot of course....

Yes agreed, you need to have some kind of medical insurance here in Thailand.

I know an expat in Pattaya that just spend about 1 mill baht on medical bills for himself and his wife, he is broke now and he need a further 700K baht. (not an accident but medical conditions).

I have 1mill $ medical coverage for each of my family members here in Thailand and believe me, I sleep better at night.

Speedy recovery to the young Canadian man

[lee b]

All the best to you lad, get well soon

[unanimosity]

Well so far he's got $29,000 more than most other accident victims. How much is enough?

If they keep publishing the amount received you can be sure the bill won't be any less than that.

[Xonax]

Looks like the family is doing great with the fundraising, hopefully the guy will have a successful recovery.

Does anybody know up to what extend the social security here covers? The guy, as all of us working here, was paying the monthly 600 baht. What can we really expect from this social security? (avoid Thai bashing, I am asking for facts)

Another wake-up call, to all of those living or working in Thailand who think, that a normal Thai medical insurance covers anything more serious than haemoroids and a broken leg. The maximum cover is so low, that anything serious will not be covered and most normal types of surgery will not be paid fully. That being accident, cancer or organ transplantation and many others.

Buy an International health Insurance with a proper cover. Yes - it is expensive, but then you have the cover, if one day anything serious happens to you or your family. If too expensive, there are companies who give large discounts, if you self accept to pay like the first THB 40.000 per year, or void cover in Europe and USA and void outpationt coverage. Personally I did that and my yearly premium was lowered with more than 50%. Furthermore I get a 5% bonus, for every year I don´t use the insurance.

The first years I was here, I was self-insured, as I believed that hospitals were cheap here and the Thai insurances did not cover much anyway. But after being hospitalized, first 3 days for food poisoning and later had appendix removal surgery with 4 days of hospitalization, I was down with THB 200,000.00 and immediately after bought myself a proper insurance, that cover me with USD 1,000,000.00 per year and USD 5,000,000.00 for lifetime.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Xonax

[puukao]

yes, his recovery could take many, many years and he might actually need an English teacher himself. I have never ridden a motorcycle for this exact reason, but maybe he really loved biking and this was his passion. I am a little older than this guy, ride a bicycle a lot, and generally ask myself, "when will my reflexes really deteriorate?" everyone is different, but i'm guessing in not too many years. however, i might just realize it too late. i'm not saying this was the reason for the accident, but something to consider before you ride. then start scaling down on the machine. road bike to cruiser, for example. yes, helmet and insurance is a must. anyhow, give strength to his wife, friends and family. this will be a long, difficult road. good luck.