Paralysed Briton stranded after Thailand crash

A Briton is stranded in Thailand after being paralysed in a road accident, his sister said today.

Tom Moss, 26, was left nearly blind and unable to move from the neck down after his moped collided with a lorry and two cars in the resort of Chiang Mai.

Because he did not have travel insurance, he is now stuck in hospital in the capital, Bangkok, while his family tries to raise the £35,000 needed to fly him back to the UK.

Mr Moss, a telesales worker, from Tooting, south London, went out to Thailand at the start of this year and spent six months travelling before his accident about a fortnight ago.

The Chelsea fan is now paralysed from the neck down and has lost 95% of his sight, as well as suffering fractures to his jaw, cheekbones and nose.

His mother, Gina Allaway, 53, has flown out to Thailand to be with her son, who is conscious but cannot remember the crash and finds it difficult to speak.

Mr Moss's sister, Jamie Harvey, 31, said her family felt frustrated by the difficulty of finding out what was happening to her brother.

She said: "My mum's out there on her own in a strange foreign country. It's just not knowing that's difficult - we try and get through to people but it's just not happening.

"We're just doing everything in our power to get him home. The problem is we haven't got any insurance to do it.

"He was living his dreams out there. It's in all our best interests to bring him home. It would be a big help for his rehabilitation for him to have us around him - we're such a close-knit family."

Private air ambulance operator Mediaviation is helping the family raise the funds to bring Mr Moss back to Britain, but so far they have only raised a little over £3,000.

Donations can be made via http://www.mediaviation.com.