THE family and friends of a Pickering man who is seriously ill in a Thai hospital have launched a fundraising drive to pay for emergency medical treatment.
Mark Winspear, 34, fell ill last week with a lung infection which has developed into pneumonia and sepsis, leaving him fighting for life on a ventilator.
His family have now been told that as Mark is not a Thai national, the hospital will not move him to an intensive care unit to receive the treatment he needs until it is paid for.
Mark’s former partner, Kirsty Muise, who lives in Pickering with their six-year-old daughter, Daisy, said it was difficult to communicate with medical staff due to the language barrier.
“There is only one English-speaking doctor so we can only speak to him when he is on shift, which makes it very difficult to get any information,” she said.
“At the moment he is unconscious and being kept alive by a ventilator, but we are worried that unless we can raise the money for further treatment they will switch the ventilator off.”
Kirsty said Mark, who worked locally as an electrician, had gone out to Thailand on holiday a couple of years ago and decided to stay there.
“Mark met a girl out there so decided to stay and has been working in a bar,” she said.
“She has been by his side since this happened and has managed to pay for three days of medical care, but has now run out of money.
“But at least someone is with him as none of his family here can afford to fly out there.”
Kirsty said Mark had lots of family members in Pickering and Whitby, including his cousin Katie Vasey, who had set up a Crowdfunding page to raise £2,500.
“He comes from a really close family and they just want to do all they can to make sure he recovers from this.”
Kirsty added: “We have also contacted the British Embassy over in Thailand to see if someone there could check and get some information for us.”
Kirsty said their daughter Daisy was also struggling with what was going on.
“She keeps crying and is really upset,” she said. “Daisy does understand what is going on and is really affected by it.
“At the moment I am trying to help her by saying his is going to get better, but I just don’t know what is going to happen to Mark unless we can get some money out there to pay for his treatment.”
Anyone who would like to make a donation towards Mark’s appeal can do so at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/katie-vasey
