A Briton fighting for his life in a coma in Thailand after a scooter crash was due to fly back to the UK the next day, his devoted girlfriend has revealed.
Zak Forsyth, 21, from Huyton, Merseyside, had been dropping off a friend on Friday while on holiday in the Asian country when the devastating accident happened.
A car suddenly pulled out in front of him, causing him to crash as he rode his scooter, completely sober, with the other driver then immediately rushing him to hospital.
But despite their efforts, Mr Forsyth has suffered potentially life-changing injuries, with a brain bleed, blood clot, and a broken nose, jaw, ankle, wrist and teeth.
And his partner Amy Elkin, 21, who has set up an online fundraiser for his medical costs, has now revealed the tragic episode happened just a day before he was due to fly home from a fun-filled four weeks abroad with friends.
The hairdresser, from Prescot, Merseyside, who is set to fly to Thailand to be with her boyfriend on Monday, vowed to wait by his bedside until he can return to the UK with her.
She told the Daily Mail, holding back tears: ‘I am not coming home until he comes home with me.
‘So, if we’ve got to stay over there for three months, four months, until he’s able to fly, boat, whatever – that’s what I’m going to do.’
Zak Forsyth (pictured), 21, from Huyton, Merseyside, had been dropping off a friend on Friday while on holiday in the Asian country when the devastating accident happened
Mr Forsyth (pictured) has suffered potentially life-changing injuries, with a brain bleed, blood clot, and a broken nose, jaw, ankle, wrist and teeth
And his partner Amy Elkin (pictured, with Mr Forsyth), 21, has now revealed the tragic episode happened just a day before he was due to fly home from a fun-filled four weeks abroad with friends
The couple are set to mark their second anniversary next week – and had plans to move to Australia together in the coming months.
Ms Elkin, who will be joined in Thailand by several of their relatives and friends, said: ‘His life. That’s what he’s going to be missing out on.
‘There’s nothing more you can miss out on than your life… Our whole life has been put on hold, everything. I can’t even sleep, I just want him to be OK.’
But without medical or travel insurance for his trip, Mr Forsyth’s distraught loved ones have been left battling to pay for all his treatment alone.
The sums, so far, have been astronomical – £2,000 to move him to ‘a good hospital’, Ms Elkin said, and a further £5,000 for just seven days in intensive care.
He needs two brain surgeries, at a total of £36,000 – and any further ICU stints and eventual medical transport back home would send costs spiralling even further.
‘They just want money. We’ve been told just money, money, money. We’re all just worried,’ Ms Elkin said, whose fundraiser has so far raised £19,000 of its £30,000 target.
‘The most important thing is just getting the brain surgery out of the way. Everything else, we can deal with. We just need to get him into surgery.’
Mr Forsyth was alone when the crash happened, his girlfriend explained: ‘The other driver took him to hospital, thinking he wasn’t alive. No one knew.
‘He must have had ID on him – the British Embassy rang the police and we got a knock from the police.
‘And then I rang his friends who were over in Thailand and said that he’s in a coma and they didn’t know anything about it.’
Holding back tears, Ms Elkin added: ‘He’s just the funniest person in the world. He loves travelling, he’s worked all over the world. He loves his football, his bikes.
‘He’s loved by everyone in the community, the amount of people that have come together so far to help us – I can’t even put words together.
‘There’s no one like him. There’s really none.’
The hairdresser (right, with Mr Forsyth), from Prescot, Merseyside, who is set to fly to Thailand to be with her boyfriend on Monday, vowed to wait by his bedside until he can return to the UK with her
She told the Daily Mail, holding back tears: ‘I am not coming home until he comes home with me. So, if we’ve got to stay over there for three months, four months, until he’s able to fly, boat, whatever – that’s what I’m going to do.’ Pictured: Mr Forsyth
Mr Forsyth’s mother, Melanie McCourt, 47, previously told the Liverpool Echo: ‘We need as much help as we can to get him home.’
Ms Elkin also wrote in a post to her Instagram account: ‘This has been sudden and devastating, and like so many people, we never imagined something like this could happen to us.
‘Our lives have been turned upside down in ways we never could have prepared for.
‘Time is critical, and every moment matters in ensuring he continues to receive the care he desperately needs and in getting his loved ones to his side.
‘It is incredibly humbling and difficult to have to ask others for financial help, something we never thought we would need to do.
‘But right now, our only focus is doing everything possible to support him and give him the best chance to keep fighting.
‘Any money raised will go directly toward Zak’s medical expenses, as well as urgent travel costs for me and his family so we can be with him during this incredibly difficult time.
‘Any donation, no matter how big or small, will make a difference and help give him the support and care he needs.’