A man fighting for his life in a Thai hospital after he crashed his moped and suffered severe brain trauma has already ‘died three times’, his family said.
Benjamin French, 36, had travelled to the resort island of Koh Samui for a friend’s wedding where he was involved in a horror motorcycle accident on March 28.
The Perth man – who runs a food truck in Fremantle – is now in a coma after the crash left him with brain trauma, a broken spine, punctured lungs, all of his ribs broken, many other broken bones and damage to his skull.
Benjamin French, 36, (pictured) had travelled to the resort island of Koh Samui for a friend’s wedding where he was involved in a horror motorcycle accident on March 28
The Perth man (pictured) is now in a coma after the crash left him with brain trauma, a broken spine, punctured lungs, broken ribs, many broken bones and damage to his skull.
Mr French’s accident was not covered by insurance and his hospital bills have climbed to over $64,000 at a cost of nearly $20,000 per day, with an expectation he will remain in care for several months.
His parents have flown to Thailand to keep a bedside vigil and his mother Deniae said Mr French has already medically died several times.
‘When we got the news it was all very bad with little hope and we had three hours to arrange things and catch the first flight to be with him,’ she said.
‘Luckily Ben had been taken to the best hospital in Koh Samui which did save his life twice.’
His brother Kyle Malkus said Mr French was close to death when a Thai local found him on the side of the road.
‘The first day they didn’t think he was going to make it at all,’ he told PerthNow.
‘They’ve had to cut the top of his skull off, he’s got severe swelling and trauma to the brain. He actually died three times on the table but they managed to resuscitate him.
Mr French’s (pictured middle) accident was not covered by insurance and his hospital bills have climbed to over $64,000 at a cost of nearly $20,000 per day, with an expectation he will remain in care for several months
Deniae has described her son (pictured middle with friends) as ‘one of nature’s gentlemen’
His mother has also described her son as ‘one of nature’s gentlemen’.
‘He truly is one of the kindest and nicest person you would ever meet, one of nature’s gentlemen, he cares about everyone and everything and lives his life that way being good to people,’ Deniae added.
Once Mr French can be stabilised his family hopes to fly him home to Perth where he can recover without the exorbitant costs.
‘With positivity and blessings we hope to see his condition stabilise, where he can return to his hometown here in Perth and be surrounded by his family and friends with the continual care he requires,’ Mr Malkus said.
Thankfully, a GoFundMe page set up in Mr French’s name will cover some of the growing medical bills.
The family has raised $52,342 in only a few days with a target of $300,000.