Help Nicolas Recover After a tragic motorbike Accident

Nicolas Roper, an 18-year-old from a Karen village in Myanmar, is fighting for his life after a motorbike accident on November 16, 2024. He suffered a severe head injury and underwent emergency brain surgery. Though his condition initially improved, complications led to a life-threatening setback, requiring him to remain in the ICU on a ventilator.

Nicolas grew up facing challenges, including shaken baby syndrome, but overcame many obstacles. Fluent in English, Thai, Karen, and Burmese, he’s a kind-hearted young man who loves playing guitar, caring for animals, and dreaming of becoming a tailor or motorbike mechanic.

His family, already struggling on a modest income of 5,000 baht (ca. 166 USD) per month, is overwhelmed by mounting medical bills of 11,000 baht (ca. 366 USD) per ICU day, plus surgery and care costs. adding up to 433.149 baht until now. These costs will continue to grow as he still needs to recover and being taken care of during that process.

Your support can help Nicolas receive the treatment he desperately needs to recover and regain hope for his future. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a difference. Thank you for helping Nicolas and his family in this critical time.

Continue reading for more details:

After the son of a dear friend from a Karen village got into an accident, her family now faces enormous financial struggles. So with this Crowdfunding we want to try to support her and her family by minimizing the burden while they worry for their son’s and brother’s life. Every small amount counts and is a huge help!

Nicolas Roper is a 18-years-old boy currently living in Mu Aye Pu, Karen State, Myanmar together with his mother, who adopted him when he was just a baby. Back then, his biological mother was unable to take care of him since her husband had just died and she already had four other kids to feed and raise. So in her desperation, she turned to a foreign doctor, who has been staying and working in Thailand back then, taking care of her biological and adopted children. Currently, they depend on one of the daughter’s income of 5.000 baht (approx. 166 USD) per month, which is barely enough for their daily expenses and basic healthcare needs.

Nicolas is an intelligent boy, but being diagnosed with a shaken baby syndrome, he struggled with the strict structures in school, which used to make him feel frustrated and angry. Nonetheless, he visited a Christian boarding school in the Thai side until it was locked down because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In his village, he enjoyed to swim in the river, catch snails, run around freely and play with others in his Christian community. From 2022 to 2023, he studied at Sunshine Orchard, Tak Province, Thailand and is now fluent in English, Thai, Karen and Burmese.

Nicolas got in an accident back in 2023, when he was on his way to a funeral in Thailand. A drunken car driver lost control over his vehicle and hit Nicolas, who had both of his legs broken and his head injured. After a surgery and weeks in a wheelchair, he was able to recover fully and to walk again. Until recently, he helped out as a boat driver and learned to sew with a factory sewing machine, helping one of his mother’s friends to set up a small sewing factory. But he never got a chance to turn that plan into reality.

On the evening of the 16th November 2024, Nicolas was driving home in the dark from a friend’s house, who lives close to his village. Nobody saw what happened, but since the roads in that area are often dirty and the curves are really sharp, he probably underestimated the speed of his motorbike, loosing control and hitting his head on the asphalt. He must have laid on the side of the road for about an hour, before somebody found him there and transported him to the Tha Song Yang Hospital. After a CT Scan there, the doctors found that he bled into his brain, so they brought him to the Phitasanoluk Hospital for an immediate open brain surgery on 16th November 2024, whereafter he was transferred back to Tha Song Yang and spent several days in the ICU. First, his condition seemed to improve well and he had no other injuries but on his head. However, on 23rd November 2024, Nicolas developed a high fever and stopped breathing during the night, so he was transferred back to the ICU and received a ventilator. The doctors told his family that he might not survive. But Nicolas kept fighting. His brain seems to be healing well according to the medical staff and he sometimes is awake and able to react to what others say to him. Because of the ventilator, speaking is still impossible and frequently tries to breath by himself but is yet too exhausted to do so for a long period of time. Every day in the ICU is costing the family 11.000 baht (approx. 366 USD), plus the surgery cost of 294.154 baht (approx. 9.805 USD) transportation fees, room rental fees, nursing fees and nutrition costs, adding up to a 433.149 baht (approx. 14.438 USD) dept for his family.

Worrying for his life, his family is already emotionally shaken up and struggles to decide on further treatment, since they cannot afford to get into dept any further. Nicolas enjoys playing the guitar, loves animals and looking after stray cats and his dog and hanging out with his friends. As it is difficult to find a job in the border area, it is Nicolas’ dream to continue his work as a tailor, though he also enjoys to repair motorbikes, which makes him very proud. Please support him, with whatever amount possible, to receive adequate medical treatment to recover well and hopefully soon fulfill his dream.

Update 13.02.2025 by his mother:

Nicolas left the hospital on 15th Dec severely underweight and weak. He was coughing heavily and and had severe problems swollowing liquids. He had no voice at all after having been intubated for 2.5 weeks. His injured eye hurt a lot and needed antibiotic cream several times a day.

Now, 2 months later, he has put on weight, though he us still underweight and lacks strength and stamina. I changed to eye drops, which seem to help better. In a few weeks we will be able to see an eye doctor for further advice. I started Nicolas on a treatment with Diclofenac for gis throat problems, not sure, if it would help. Diclo is an anti-inflammatory. First nothing happened and then slowly his voice becane an audible whisper and then loyder and louder. Today his voice is nearly back to normal and he CAN SING! Since a week he can swallow a lot better and can drink now normally.

We went for blood work to a local hospital and all came back normal. Nicolas has developed symptoms that point to problems in the Hypothalamus atea of the brain. There seems to be a lack of certain hormones in his blood. We keep watching this, but if it stays or fets worse he will need to see a specialist. Healing after a severe Brain Trauma like his will take many months. He is already at a good point and I think it will still improve.