A British expat living in Cambodia, Charlie McLaughlin, is on life support in a Phnom Penh hospital, while his family is desperately trying to raise money to fly him home to England to save his life.



He is suffering from what has been called a 'suspected stroke.' His mother, Esther McLaughlin, flew to Cambodia to be with him in Phnom Penh and says he will likely die if they can't raise the £105,000 it will cost to have him repatriated back to the UK for better medical attention.

Charlie McLaughlin was found unconscious in his Phnom Penh home after an apparent fall, leading to blood clots in his brain stem and a stroke. He is on life support with assisted breathing at Calmette Hospital, which costs £400 a day.

Charlie's sister is reported saying, "The staff at the hospital are caring and dedicated but the facilities are like the 1930s in the UK and the longer he is there the more risk."

Family says he has travel insurance, but since he's unconscious he's unable to provide the details of it to anyone.

A GoFundMe account has been set up to raise money to fly him back to England for better medical treatment:



https://www.gofundme.com/brother-on-life-support-help

Friends and family of Charlie's back in the UK also had a fundraiser selling pastries to raise money to have him repatriated:



His cousin blames the UK government for not helping get him back, and has started a petition on change.org:

"I am starting this petition to get my seriously ill cousin repatriated back to the UK from Cambodia for life saving treatment.
 
The British government have so far refused to help and i now call on the government and some of the UK most senior MPs to get involved and help a British citizen in his hour of need and do all they can within their power to get him home
We think Charlie has travel insurance but because of his current condition and data protection the family cannot access this crucial data.

Let's be honest how many of us leave a copy of our travel insurance with loved ones when we travel, this could be anyone of us."

https://www.change.org/p/british-govern ... harliehome

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:03 pm His mother, Esther McLaughlin, flew to Cambodia to be with him in Phnom Penh and says he will likely die if they can't raise the £105,000 it will cost to have him repatriated back to the UK for better medical attention.

Charlie McLaughlin was found unconscious in his Phnom Penh home after an apparent fall, leading to blood clots in his brain stem and a stroke. He is on life support with assisted breathing at Calmette Hospital, which costs £400 a day.

Why not repatriate him to Thailand? After a stroke he may very possibly not be fit for flight at all and even if they think he is which airline is going to take such a high risk passenger?

Better transfer him to Thailand by land than throw his stroke brain kilometers above ground with little medical equipment.

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:03 pm
Family says he has travel insurance, but since he's unconscious he's unable to provide the details of it to anyone.

Surely there must be a way to find out the details of his travel insurance.

prahocalypse now wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:11 pm

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:03 pm
Family says he has travel insurance, but since he's unconscious he's unable to provide the details of it to anyone.

Surely there must be a way to find out the details of his travel insurance.

Probably they can't find it because his travel insurance doesn't cover his long term stay ("an expat living in Cambodia").

Their GoFundMe confirms there is most likely no insurance coverage.

We understand that Charles did complete a travel insurance prior to travelling. However, we have since found out that Charles extended his travels by several months to take in Cambodia, but, his travel insurance was NOT extended. We do not yet have complete insight, however we believe it is highly unlikely that there is an insurance policy in place.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Mon Sep 10, 2018 4:21 pm ambulance to bangkok would be no more than $2,000 and the care there is as good and less $$ than the UK.
$105,000???

The British government have so far refused to help and i now call on the government and some of the UK most senior MPs to get involved and help a British citizen in his hour of need and do all they can within their power to get him home

Not to be negative, but why should the embassy help??
He took the risk by not having insurance or $$ in the bank

38 years old, falls down an has a stroke?

The wording is slightly different here to what was originally written. In another write up it said the money was for repatriation and the costs of the treatment he'd need back home.

I wonder why specifically here was interesting for him to "extend his travels by several months to take in Cambodia". Methamphetamine and alcohol causes strokes. On the GoFundMe campaign they describe a person who was happy and healthy, then he got laid off and went to Cambodia and then extended his stay to "take it in".

Have we not heard this many times before? Happy man loses job, moves to Cambodia, has accident. There's something more to it. What or who did he fall in love with wanting to stay here? Temples, ladyboys and ice, in no particular order?

The idea that he's communicating with his girlfriend and mother through his eyelids in coma recovering from a stroke is a McLaughlin idea at best. What kind of Western girlfriend lets her man leave Europe for Cambodia for several months anyway? It's little to no wonder that nobody in Europe knows what he's been up to if his points of contact are girlfriends and moms.

Although unconcious, Mum's first words to him last night made him cough and react. This has made us very hopeful. He has since been using his eyelids to communicate with my Mum and his Girlfriend.