The family of an Australian man is appealing for help to pay for his repatriation flights from China, where he has been in a coma for more than a month.
Yang Yang Chen, 34, was about to fly home to Sydney on June 20 after a three-week holiday when a nasty fall left him with severe skull fractures.
He was rushed to the intensive care unit at Shantou Central Hospital in Guangdong province before being transferred to the neurosurgery ward, where he remains.
Without travel insurance, Mr. Chen’s medical bills continue to mount, while the option of flying him home is even more expensive due to the severity of his injuries.
A common model of medical care in the country meant his mother, Grace Huang, had to travel to the hospital to be by his side 24 hours a day.
Ms Huang said the uncertainty over her son’s future has caused “great emotional stress” for the family.
The family has launched a GoFundMe to help foot the estimated $250,000 bill to safely bring Mr Chen back to Australia.
“Any financial help you can provide would be greatly appreciated by the entire family and those closest to us,” reads a fundraising post.
Yang Yang Chen (pictured), a 34-year-old Sydney man, has been in a coma in a Chinese hospital since June 20 and needs to be repatriated to Australia before the end of August, when his visa expires.
Her mother and primary school teacher, Grace Huang (pictured), has been by her side for weeks and revealed an air ambulance would cost the family $250,000.
Ms Huang said she had had little sleep during the weeks she had spent at her son’s side, leaving her “physically and emotionally exhausted and on the verge of collapse”.
“My heart aches to see my son in such conditions,” she wrote.
The part-time teacher from Sydney said she and her husband tried to access help from the Australian consulate in Guangzhou.
However, they were told that the issue of Mr Chen’s repatriation is “solely a family responsibility”, according to Ms Huang.
They have also been told that their son’s condition means he cannot fly as a “stretcher passenger” on a commercial flight.
“Yang is not even fit to be medically repatriated on commercial flights due to his skull fractures, pulmonary embolism and still in a coma,” Ms. Huang wrote.
“This means that he will not be able to receive low-flow oxygen treatment for the flight home.”
He added that their last option is to bring Mr. Chen home by air ambulance with CareFlight, which is estimated to cost around $250,000.