Sick teacher home thanks to Caithness support
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A CRITICALLY ill teacher is back in the UK – helped by the support of the people of Caithness.
Thurso businessman Mark Taylor’s epic fundraising adventure has been instrumental in bringing home his little brother, Matthew, from hospital in Singapore.
The Picture Box and Hush boutique owner swam six miles of the Pentland Firth, scaled the three highest peaks in the UK and cycled over 600 miles, all in under a week, arriving at the finish line at John O’Groats on Saturday.
By Monday, Matthew was being flown from Singapore to the intensive care unit at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
“He’s quite stable and he’s just resting up,” said Mark. “It’s really good to have him back.”
“It was just really good to be supported by the community and friends.”
Around three months ago Matthew was left at the roadside in Bali following a near-fatal motorcycle crash. As he did not have travel insurance, the subsequent hospital bill had been running to many thousands of pounds a week.
The family have been through weeks of frustration as more and more money was needed for his continued care as well as many serious operations. During this time the possibility of an air ambulance was ruled out due to the severity of his injuries.
He was finally given the all-clear last week and came back to the UK on Monday in a sectioned off part of a Singapore Airlines flight with a medical team, costing the family around £40,000.
The expense puts an end – for the moment – to the worry and frustration that Matthew’s family have been going through. They did everything in their power to get the 30-year-old back to the UK, including fundraising, taking loans and re-mortgaging properties.
However, they are not out of the woods yet as although the hospital bills are paid up there is still a bank loan for the flight home plus all the other financial commitments that various family members made.
Mark said that they are still doing their best to keep raising funds to make things as easy as possible for the family in the long run.
Mark has managed to raise around £3500 just with sponsorship alone in Caithness. This does not include funds raised at other events held locally and more money is still come in.
