Tourist is fighting for life in Thailand after mosquito bite left him with Dengue fever as he rode taxi to catch his flight back to Ireland – and now family face €2,700-a-DAY hospital bill
- James Burke, 36, of Cork, fell ill in Thailand just as he was preparing to fly home
- His family now face a €2,700-a-day hospital bill as his insurance had expired
The family of an Irish man are pleading for help after learning he is fighting for his life in a Thai hospital after a rare mosquito bite.
Relatives of James Burke, 36, of Cork, are facing a €2,700 (£2,300) bill each day to keep him in intensive care in Bangkok hospital.
The truck driver had planned to return home on November 19 after spending several weeks holidaying in Thailand. He texted his family saying that he ‘couldn’t wait to get home’ while heading by taxi to an airport in Bangkok.
But at some point during the journey, Mr Burke is thought to have been struck down by a sudden bout of illness, later determined to be Dengue fever, the Irish Independent reports.
His sister Margaret Creed said: ‘James never made it home. That was the last we heard from him.’
Relatives of James Burke, 36, of Cork, are facing a €2,700 (£2,300) bill each day to keep him in intensive care in Bangkok hospital
Mr Burke was heading to Bangkok International Airport when he suddenly fell ill. Tests revealed he had suffered a rare mosquito bite infection
Mr Burke’s parents, Walter, 83, and Maureen, 76, of Effin, County Limerick, and his eight siblings spent days frantically texting and searching for information after they lost contact with him.
READ MORE: UNINSURED BRITISH TOURIST, 41, IS LEFT STRANDED IN ‘HELL-HOLE’ THAI HOSPITAL
Eventually, they managed to contact his hotel, who revealed he was in hospital suffering from a critical illness.
A Thai translator told the family that clinicians needed their permission to intubate Mr Burke in Bangkok Hospital.
Speaking to PJ Coogan on the 96FM Opinion Line, Mrs Creed said: ‘They said he needed to be intubated and put on a ventilator due to respiratory failure. He had acute kidney failure, pneumonia, a bleed on the brain and severe nerve damage.
‘We don’t know if he will ever be the same again and we can’t go out to him because we have spent every penny of our savings on the hospital.
‘We don’t know where to turn, we are at the end of our tether. We have been through every TD [member of the lower house of the Irish Parliament]. Our family are so distressed.’
Mrs Creed says her brother has slightly improved, but he remains intubated in intensive care and has a ‘vacant look’ in his eyes most of the time.
Although Mr Burke took out holiday insurance, it had expired by the date of his hospital admission and the firm won’t pay.
He could be transported home by air ambulance, but this would cost his family around €176,000 (£151,713).
Mrs Creed says her parents are deeply distressed by her brother’s condition and are anxious for him to return home.
The family have been taking turns to talk to Thai doctors at 2am to get an update on Mr Burke’s health, speaking through a translator.
But they are concerned that the language barrier means they cannot ask the right questions.
They have now set up a GoFundMe page to bring Mr Burke back to Ireland, where he can be cared for in a local intensive care unit within easy reach of his family.
More than anything, they say they want to have him home in time for Christmas.
Mr Burke’s sister added: ‘The cost [of] the hospital is 2,700 euros daily and this will continue until James is able to come home. We as a family have exhausted our savings and we are in serious crisis.
‘We are waiting for a miracle now. Christmas is fast approaching and all we want is to have our brother James home.’
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