Family race to rescue British man from mystery illness in Thailand
The family of a British man is desperately trying to airlift him back to England after he was struck down by a mysterious illness in Thailand. The drama began with a 5am shock call from a Thai hospital requesting payment, leaving his family bewildered and fearing a scam before they realised it was all too real.
Raymond Wallace, a retired lorry driver from Sidmouth, Devon, was enjoying a journey through Thailand when his adventure took a sharp turn.
On Valentine’s Day, he checked himself into a hospital in Hua Hin on Friday, February 14 after experiencing severe respiratory issues. Within hours of admittance, he was sedated and hooked up to a ventilator as doctors struggled to pin down the problem.
Daughter Karrie has been in knots ever since.
“I knew as soon as I saw my sister’s name flashing up on my phone that something was seriously wrong. Straight away, she said ‘Dad’s in hospital in a really bad way.'”
A FaceTime call revealed the 72 year old British father of six was unconscious, with tubes coming out of all places.
Initially thought to be pneumonia, the diagnosis was later shifted to acute respiratory distress syndrome. To add to the confusion, a call to the British Embassy hinted at possible kidney issues, leaving the family in the lurch about Wallace’s real condition.
With Wallace’s travel insurance expiring just before his hospitalisation, hospital bills have spiralled to a staggering £3,000 (127,500 baht) a day, escalating with each tick of the clock. The financial strain led the family to launch a GoFundMe campaign in an effort to offset these eye-watering costs.
Doctors have warned that if the British man’s condition does not improve rapidly, he’ll be transferred to a hospital in Bangkok for further treatment.
Karrie and her brother are now preparing to fly out to Thailand, desperate to better grasp the situation on the ground.
“[The doctors] keep saying to us, ‘We’re going to keep him sedated for a few days to see if his vital signs improve. But we haven’t even been given a proper timeline.”
While Wallace hangs in a state of critical stability, Karrie’s life has turned into a sleepless, agonising wait.
“You feel like you don’t want to go to sleep because you don’t want to wake up to something you don’t want to hear.”
Karrie’s background in healthcare has turned up the pressure to provide answers she doesn’t have.
“It’s not knowing, or being able to answer anything or know where you are.”
The British man had embarked on his journey three years after losing his partner Jane, Karrie’s stepmother, to a sudden brain tumour.
Initially heading to Goa, a special place for him and Jane, he seized an unexpected opportunity to explore Thailand with a friend. Karrie had been unaware of the change in travel plans until he texted a casual mention of it.
“We were quite shocked that he was leaving India because Goa is the place where he and his partner used to go all the time.”
Despite the spiralling costs and uncertainty, the family is not slowing down.
“We’re all in a WhatsApp group, actively posting and trying to do stuff. Someone’s contacting the embassy, I’ve set up the GoFundMe. Everybody’s been so proactive, trying to think of ways forward.”
Although reluctant at first, the family’s decision to go public with the GoFundMe was driven by mounting expenses they simply couldn’t shoulder alone.
“As soon as the bills started coming through, we said ‘this is too much, we can’t do this on our own.'”
As things stand, the path to bringing Wallace back home is as foggy as the original diagnosis. What is crystal clear is the family’s unwavering commitment to him and each other during these testing times.
Rallied by love and urgency, they are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to bring their father back to England.
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