A British man with ‘a heart of gold’ is in a critical condition with horrific injuries after he was in a high-speed motorcycle crash in Thailand.
Dean Standley’s devastating injuries include a shattered pelvis and a large bleed to the brain as well as a six inch crack to his skull, broken hips and an injured bladder.
He is in intensive care and needs two nurses day and night.
The 40-year-old investment banker has a home in Thailand with his Russian wife of five years, Anya, and their two Pomeranian dogs.
Now his distraught family from Solihull and Warwickshire are desperately trying to raise funds to pay for his rising medical costs which are set to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The distressed family say they are not clear how the crash occurred in Hua Hin on July 10, but Dean was involved in a smash with a car.
The driver walked away uninjured. Dean wasn’t wearing a helmet as he was only travelling a short distance to his Muay Thai (Thai boxing) class.
His mum Karen Gisborne said his insurance company, Virgin Money, is refusing to pay out for medical and travel expenses as he chose to remain in Thailand at the start of the coronavirus crisis.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) had advised UK travellers to return home in May using repatriation flights.
She said: “It’s quite complicated but Dean tried to fly back to Russia but wasn’t allowed to board the plane as he’s not a Russian resident, they were only taking Russian nationals.
“He didn’t want to fly to the UK as Covid was rampant here killing 30,000 and there were only 58 deaths in Thailand.
“He also had his two dogs with him and they would have to travel by ferry. Their dogs are like their children, they are animal mad and in his spare time between keeping fit he helps and saves animals.
“He has raised money to not only saving street dogs but towards a clinic to save them and now weirdly, here we are trying to save him.
Tearfully, she explains: “He has a heart of gold. We have no idea how long he will be in intensive care. He’s now in a hospital in Bangkok after the first hospital he was in ran out of blood.
“He had a bleed on the brain and the doctors asked if we could find any donors. He keeps getting brain fever.”
A spokeswoman for Virgin Money said: “We sympathise with Mr Standley and his family’s situation. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advised UK travellers to return home in May using repatriation flights.
“Unfortunately not following FCO travel advice invalidates a policy. In addition, the maximum time our annual travel insurance policies cover single overseas stays is 90 days.”
Karen, who lives with her partner of 31 years, Peter Biddle, in Creynolds Lane, said her son was extremely fit and he and his wife are both vegan.
“His fitness has helped to fight this. But now, nearly three weeks on, he’s lost a lot of weight when he hasn’t got any to lose.
“Anya is out there on her own but I speak to her three or four times a day. I saw Dean this morning on Facetime and he looks so poorly and he’s in and out of consciousness.”
“He’s got bolts in his pelvis and the nurses have had to tie his hands and his legs to the bed to keep him still as he keeps trying to move.
Karen and her daughter Traci Little, who lives in Treddington, Warwickshire have launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise money to help pay towards his medical costs.
The family say the Thai Embassy in London advised them to set up a fundraising appeal and currently the amount raised stands at £22,390 of a £100,000 target.
The family is also selling whatever they can to fund his treatment .
They say they are overwhelmed with people’s kindness.
Traci wrote on the appeal page: “I just want to thank everyone out there for your generosity, kind words, thoughts, prayers and shares. We are absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of support received.
“Friends, old & new, friends of friends, family’s of friends I honestly cannot believe it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone Dean is so blessed to be loved by so many.”
Karen, a grandmother of three, said she was heartbroken that she could not fly out to be with her son because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I love Dean so very much and speak to him at least four times a week when he’s not in the UK,” she explained.
“He is such a happy life and soul kind of guy, always making jokes. It breaks my heart to see him lying there and not even knowing how long for or the outcome.
“I try to be positive but it’s so hard. Not being able to go there because of Covid is an added blow to this.
“The estimate of hundreds of thousands of pounds is an an added worry on top of Dean’s injuries.
“Obviously his recovery is paramount but the worry of the insurance not paying out is devastating for us with the enormity of escalating bills.
You can donate to Dean’s appeal by clicking here.
