Man hurt in Thai bike crash makes 'slow progress'

A restaurant owner has left hospital after he was critically injured in a collision with a motorbike in Thailand.

Ricky Eury, 39, from Hanham in Bristol, was crossing a road in the city of Phuket when he was struck by the vehicle, suffering a fractured skull, a bleed on the brain and fractures to his nose and ribs.

Despite being allowed to leave the hospital in Phuket, Mr Eury remains under the care of medics there, and is too unwell to travel back to the UK.

Friend Harry Bradford said it was "a waiting process" to see when he could come home.

Mr Bradford added: "He's still got skull fractures, from my understanding. He's still got a bleed on the brain. It is slowly healing, but it's just a waiting process. How long it takes before he's allowed to fly home is just an unknown.

"It's just been really hard. It's so far away, it's been really difficult to find out what's going on. So we're just doing all that we can."

Ricky's travel insurance had expired just one day before the accident as he was due to return to the UK the following day.

Friends say that although Ricky's condition has now stabilised, he currently has a piece of skull lodged in his brain and is also experiencing severe double vision that could persist for up to a year.

It's thought Ricky may require further treatment in Thailand for another three to six months – adding significantly to the medical bills.

A fundraiser to help meet the costs now facing his family has now raised more than £30,000. However, his treatment has already surpassed that figure.

An event will take place on 10 May at Lost Horizons in Bristol.

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