Alan Penrose - Critical care expenses
Donation protected
On 15 November 2018 our family learned the devastating news that our brother Alan Penrose had been involved in a horrific road accident in Thailand. Alan sustained multiple severe injuries including a serious head trauma (epidural bleeding and contusions in the frontal lobe of his brain), kidney damage and multiple breaks and fractures of his skull/facial bones. These are the worst, most critical of the multiple injuries that Alan has suffered (amongst several other secondary injuries including complete sight and hearing loss on his right side)
Alan was rushed to hospital in Phuket where an emergency craniotomy was performed to remove epidural hematoma (bleeding) and reduce swelling on the brain.
Alan’s wife Melissa in Australia received the terrible call that catapulted our family into a crisis. Melissa was told that Alan was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was in a critical condition after emergency surgery on his brain. He was in an induced coma and was on a ventilator to keep him alive. He was fighting for his life!
Needless to say, upon hearing of this near-fatal accident, Alan’s mother Margaret in Ireland (with the help of her friend Paula Morris) dropped everything to get to Alan’s bedside. Whilst at the same time Alan’s wife Melissa in Australia made immediate arrangements to fly straight to Phuket.
In April of this year, Alan and Melissa welcomed their beautiful baby girl Kaia into their little family. Their future was bright and they cherished every moment together witnessing their baby grow and develop and explore her new little world. We all witnessed Alan become an incredible father. To say he dotes on his daughter would be an understatement. He is a very proud daddy and absolutely adores his little girl who lights up when she sees her “dada”.
Following this terrible accident, family in Sydney quickly united to look after 7 month old Kaia so Melissa could get to her husband who was fighting the hardest battle of his life in Thailand.
Margaret, Paula and Melissa arrived at Alan’s bedside to find the public hospital he was in, whilst performing heroics to keep him alive, was not resourced, equipped or staffed to provide Alan with the critical care that he needed. To the extent that after only a couple of days, due to pressure on resources, hospital administrators were forced to transfer Alan out of ICU to a standard ward - with totally inadequate staffing and facilities.
With clearance from the Doctor, Alan was transferred to a private hospital in Phuket and returned to a specialised ICU. He is awake and breathing on his own and is now being attended to by professionals with greater expertise of head and brain injuries. Alan will need specialised treatment in order to come through this successfully, and the move to an appropriate international hospital was the critical first step. Alan’s condition has stabilised but he won’t be in a fit condition to move out of hospital for a number of weeks.
Needless to say, this is a hugely expensive but necessary process, and one that is key in order for Alan to make a full recovery. We have agonised over the decision to seek your help but the truth is, our family needs it to cover medical expenses whilst Alan receives critical care.
Anyone who knows Alan knows the kind of person he is. Alan is a true Irish gentleman, full of life and full of fun, he has a heart of gold and would do anything to help out someone in need. It is now our turn to help Alan. So here we ask you to support Alan on this heartbreaking journey in whatever way you can.
Alan is a long way from being ‘out of the woods’ and has an uncertain road ahead of him, but he is strong and we are all hoping he can get well enough to return home to his wife and baby girl in Australia where he can continue his long recovery and rehabilitation.
Your donations, assistance, thoughts and prayers are gratefully acknowledged and appreciated by the Penrose and Mulligan families and all of Alan’s friends around the world. We will of course provide regular updates on Alan’s medical condition and (hopefully) progression to a full recovery. This can be achieved….but we NEED your help.
Lastly we just want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Alan’s story and in advance for any support at all you can offer.
Alan was rushed to hospital in Phuket where an emergency craniotomy was performed to remove epidural hematoma (bleeding) and reduce swelling on the brain.
Alan’s wife Melissa in Australia received the terrible call that catapulted our family into a crisis. Melissa was told that Alan was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and was in a critical condition after emergency surgery on his brain. He was in an induced coma and was on a ventilator to keep him alive. He was fighting for his life!
Needless to say, upon hearing of this near-fatal accident, Alan’s mother Margaret in Ireland (with the help of her friend Paula Morris) dropped everything to get to Alan’s bedside. Whilst at the same time Alan’s wife Melissa in Australia made immediate arrangements to fly straight to Phuket.
In April of this year, Alan and Melissa welcomed their beautiful baby girl Kaia into their little family. Their future was bright and they cherished every moment together witnessing their baby grow and develop and explore her new little world. We all witnessed Alan become an incredible father. To say he dotes on his daughter would be an understatement. He is a very proud daddy and absolutely adores his little girl who lights up when she sees her “dada”.
Following this terrible accident, family in Sydney quickly united to look after 7 month old Kaia so Melissa could get to her husband who was fighting the hardest battle of his life in Thailand.
Margaret, Paula and Melissa arrived at Alan’s bedside to find the public hospital he was in, whilst performing heroics to keep him alive, was not resourced, equipped or staffed to provide Alan with the critical care that he needed. To the extent that after only a couple of days, due to pressure on resources, hospital administrators were forced to transfer Alan out of ICU to a standard ward - with totally inadequate staffing and facilities.
With clearance from the Doctor, Alan was transferred to a private hospital in Phuket and returned to a specialised ICU. He is awake and breathing on his own and is now being attended to by professionals with greater expertise of head and brain injuries. Alan will need specialised treatment in order to come through this successfully, and the move to an appropriate international hospital was the critical first step. Alan’s condition has stabilised but he won’t be in a fit condition to move out of hospital for a number of weeks.
Needless to say, this is a hugely expensive but necessary process, and one that is key in order for Alan to make a full recovery. We have agonised over the decision to seek your help but the truth is, our family needs it to cover medical expenses whilst Alan receives critical care.
Anyone who knows Alan knows the kind of person he is. Alan is a true Irish gentleman, full of life and full of fun, he has a heart of gold and would do anything to help out someone in need. It is now our turn to help Alan. So here we ask you to support Alan on this heartbreaking journey in whatever way you can.
Alan is a long way from being ‘out of the woods’ and has an uncertain road ahead of him, but he is strong and we are all hoping he can get well enough to return home to his wife and baby girl in Australia where he can continue his long recovery and rehabilitation.
Your donations, assistance, thoughts and prayers are gratefully acknowledged and appreciated by the Penrose and Mulligan families and all of Alan’s friends around the world. We will of course provide regular updates on Alan’s medical condition and (hopefully) progression to a full recovery. This can be achieved….but we NEED your help.
Lastly we just want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read Alan’s story and in advance for any support at all you can offer.
Fundraising team: Alan Penrose Family (2)
Barry Harbison
Organizer
County Dublin
Margaret Penrose
Beneficiary
Mel Penrose
Team member
