This is taken from GoFundMe, which was started by Ben Wilkins' sister, who is trying to raise funds for his treatment and/or medevac flight home. She says he fell ill on Koh Rong and they are paying almost $7,500 USD per day for the care he's receiving at the hospital:



"My big brother Ben is currently fighting for his life in Cambodia.

After being found by his wonderful friends, unconscious in his hostel room on Monday, just half way through his holiday. We do not know how long Ben had been unconscious in his room on his own.
I got the call at 8:50am, starting the worst week of our lives.

He has had multiple tests done; it’s been found he has acute kidney failure, severe pneumonia, he’s in a coma and has to be ventilated to breathe. Ben is only 32 years old.

Ben has not regained consciousness in over 5 days, he has made two ambulances journeys to transfer to a hospital equipped to treat his conditions. The first Hospital ride was a necessity for Ben’s survival, as he wasn’t being given oxygen at that point, even though his blood oxygen levels were at 60%. The next ambulance ride which took five and a half hours from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was to enable him to receive dialysis as he would have died without this, most of the country does not have treatments available such as dialysis.

Ben has no medical/holiday insurance, when you’re young you think you’re invincible, so all of this is not just a heart-breaking strain on us all, but is coming at a huge financial cost to our family. It’s £8000 a day to be kept in ICU, let alone costs of ambulances, medication/ procedures, dialysis and tests being done. We have spent upwards of £60,000 since Monday, with every day the amount grows massively. My Mum, Dad and Step-Dad have gone to Cambodia to be by his side, making the 20 hour trip from the UK, they are living a nightmare right now. As I am back in the UK with my soon to be 2 year old, trying to do what I can to help.

We have been told that an air ambulance home would cost between £125,000 - £200,000. If this would even be an option.

Please help us save Ben, anything you can spare to help towards the cost of the medical bills to try and save his life and bring him back home would be greatly appreciated.

I need my brother and my parents need their son home.
He is half-way around the world and he needs to be back home.

Thank you so much.

Imogen x

Update: Such a massive thank you to everyone who has donated. We are so overwhelmed by the response and kindness shown. Ben is definitely starting to respond to his treatments in the last 24 hours, which is great news. He’s still on a ventilator and receiving dialysis for his kidney failure and his pneumonia is still severe. But there is positive news and he is responding to the treatments. He has still got a long, long way to go but he is getting amazing care."

https://www.gofundme.com/f/my-brother-b ... n-cambodia







This story has also made it to the Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... 0-000.html







His sister says he is a 'tourist' in Cambodia now, but his now-deleted social media account shows that he was in Cambodia as far back as 2017 working at the Funky Flashpacker in Siem Reap, and was even using GoFundMe in 2020 to take home some dogs from Cambodia to the UK with his girlfriend, so he's no stranger to Cambodia.

Is nt it strange he gets ill at Koh Rong and he ends up in Siem Reap hospital, before being transferred to PP ???

Bongmab69 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 3:27 pm Is nt it strange he gets ill at Koh Rong and he ends up in Siem Reap hospital, before being transferred to PP ???

I think so, in a coma in KR then he travels/is transported to SR, then comes back to PP.
Seems that there is part of the story left out.

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 4:09 pm

Bongmab69 wrote:Is nt it strange he gets ill at Koh Rong and he ends up in Siem Reap hospital, before being transferred to PP ???

Story says there was no oxygen available at Koh Rong, needing a transfer to Siem Reap to get oxygen. Then his kidneys failed, needing dialysis, which was available in Phnom Penh.

No hospital place to provincial hospital place to capital hospital with advanced treatments.

What’s strange about that?

Because they would have driven past PP to get to SR. While he was in a coma? Part of the story is missing.

Bongmab69 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 3:27 pm Is nt it strange he gets ill at Koh Rong and he ends up in Siem Reap hospital, before being transferred to PP ???

It's likely total bollox by the daily fail (haven't read it) who seized on the fact the fella listed himself as working on Koh Rong 7 years ago on his Facebook without doing any due diligence

the sister didn't say he was found unconscious in KR; most likely it was in SR as that's where he's been moved from

7,500USD/per day? I understand that he is in a coma in a country with limited medical resources, but that seems extremely high, even by Cambodian standards.

addendum: This article here says the expenses are 8000 Pounds Sterling per day, which is a considerably higher amount than 7500USD. So what is the actual expense, or are people making it up?

I heard it is expensive to medically evacuate and I'm sure comas are complicated to manage, but never have I seen daily expenses here in a hospital so high, especially in this country where doctors visits can be 25 dollars per go

HaifongWangchuck wrote: ↑Sun Apr 21, 2024 3:21 pm 7,500USD/per day? I understand that he is in a coma in a country with limited medical resources, but that seems extremely high, even by Cambodian standards.

Yeah no way that is a correct number unless he had surgeries and other expensive treatments while there but even then that is not a daily cost. I guess they baked in all the initial costs for emergency transport and initial treatment and made that into a running cost. Or they are being scammed, or not being truthful.

ICU a few hundred per day with ventilator, dialysis is about 50$ per session if im not wrong.