A British tourist who vanished on a night out in Thailand has been mysteriously found on a life support system and having emergency brain surgery in hospital.
Ashton Jones, 29, disappeared from his friends as they visited Bangkok, and was mysteriously found later in a hospital having emergency brain surgery.
His family said the Welshman flew to Thailand’s capital city ‘on a whim’ with a friend, where they met another friend and spent nearly a week ‘making unforgettable memories.’
But they said they were devastated to learn that he was found fighting for his life, and their anxiety only compounded after they saw a photo of tubes coming out of him as he lay in a hospital bed in Chonburi Hospital, a town about 55 miles southeast of Bangkok.
Friends revealed they began an hours-long search for him after he disappeared from the nightclub they were partying in.
And his family believe that Ashton, who suffers from epilepsy and lives with his grandmother Beverly Walker, was attacked while he was on a night out.
His cousin Sophie, 26, told the Sun: ‘It’s heartbreaking because we’re all really close.
‘We’re shocked and going out of our minds because we don’t know what’s going on.
‘No one speaks English there and they’re still struggling to get an English translator.’
His grandmother Beverly said: ‘I am deeply concerned that without immediate financial or diplomatic assistance, my grandson may not survive.
‘The emotional toll on our family is immense. We are heartbroken and fearful, watching from afar while Ashton suffers without the care he urgently requires.’
She said that doctors and nurses at the hospital tried waking him up on Monday.
Beverly said: ‘It was a success but he still has a long way to go, he’s bed-bound and suffering with fits, cannot talk, eat or drink and isn’t aware.
‘We all as a family are worried sick with fear for Ashton and how we can bring him home.’
The family said they now face a massive hospital bill, as Ashton did not purchase travel or health insurance on the last minute trip.
They have had to scrape all their saving together to pay for treatment and funding to bring him back to the UK, and have set up a GoFundMe to raise £50,000.
Beverly said: ‘The hospital in Thailand is asking for the cost of his treatment on going that is far beyond what our family can afford.
‘In the meantime, Ashton’s condition continues to deteriorate, and it feels as though we are being left helpless as time runs out.
‘We have already put together life savings for medical bills, flights, travel, accommodation to be with him but would never be able to afford to get him home to better health care and his family.’
So far they have raised just over £3,500.
A Foreign Office spokesman told The Sun: ‘We are supporting a British man who has been hospitalised in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities.’