Help Get Our Dad Home - Chris Punter

Hi everyone.

As some of you may have heard, on 22nd December we received the news that no son ever wants to hear. Our Dad, Chris Punter, was involved in a serious motorbike accident in Koh Samui, Thailand and has remained in a coma since. As soon as we heard, we travelled 36 hours by plane, bus and ferry so that we could be by Dad’s side on Christmas Day. The reason we are setting up this page is so that we can medically repatriate Dad back to the UK so he can receive better care and be closer to all of his family.

The nature of his injuries were so severe that the doctors gave him only a small chance of surviving. He fractured his skull in 4 different places, leading him to have emergency brain surgery to remove a blood clot and 3 parts of his skull. He also fractured a vertebrae in his neck, 3 ribs and had a partial collapse of his left lung.

But if any of you know our Dad he is a warrior. They said he’d have little chance to survive and yet he’s still here. They said he’d possibly need to be on oxygen to support his breathing for the rest of his life, yet after 3 weeks he was breathing completely independently. He has battled 2 infections and has now reached a point where he is relatively stable.

Although he’s made these positive steps, due to his comatose state we still don’t have an idea on the level of brain function he has. He can open his eyes and track sounds as-well as involuntary movement of his limbs but that’s all that can be assessed so far. His coma so far has lasted 32 days.

We've been doing everything we can to support him, but the medical care here is limited. Dad was placed into the common ward which at times contained 30 people with no aircon and families eating dinner on the ward floor, where he picked up an infection. Through all the operations, intensive care and moving him into a private room, all of the insurance money has now been used up so we are paying for his medical bills.

That's why we're trying to raise £40,000 to bring him back to the UK. Being close to his family and receiving better care will make a huge difference in his recovery. We can't even express how much it would mean to us and our family to have him home again.

If you're able to contribute, no matter how big or small, it would make a world of difference. Your support will help us cover the costs of his transfer to Bangkok, a 5 night stay in a hospital so that he is stable and ready to be flown back to England via a medical team on a commercial flight. We're incredibly grateful for any help you can provide. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the incredible support we have received so far, we know how many people knew Dad and would love to see him home.

Jim & Jack Punter

P.S if anyone would like to contact us personally about our fundraiser, please use our normal English numbers via WhatsApp.