Race to save sick dad stuck in Philippines as family issue heartbreaking appeal

15 November 2023 , 21:26

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Reece Jones has been by the side of his dad Nicholas since he heard he was ill (Image: Men Media)

A despairing son whose dad is stuck in the Philippines needing an urgent liver transplant says his family are forced to pay £500 every day to keep him on an incubator - and they need to raise thousands more for an air ambulance back home.

Reece Jones, 26, says father Nicholas was rushed to hospital with liver cirrhosis while on holiday in Calapan. Desperate Reece now says the 56-year-old’s condition is getting worse and worse whilst he stays there.

As soon as he heard about what had happened, Reece and his partner Ella Johnson raced to his dad’s side. They’ve already spent around £8,000 on treatment because Nicholas had no insurance but the pair are now appealing to the public for more help.

Reece, Nicholas and Ella Johnson desperately need help with medical bills (Men Media)

Reece says he 'cannot put into words' what the family have been doing 'on a minute by minute basis' to help. He added: “We have slept about 15 hours in nearly two weeks. We are stuck in a public hospital where the prices for the care of a foreigner are extremely expensive. We have been stuck over here for a couple of weeks and begging for help to get him home urgently. Air ambulances are so expensive and as he is not insured we cannot afford this."

Reece, who Manchester Evening News reports has sadly also lost his mother to motor neurone disease, added: "The longer he is here the more he is deteriorating and the worse things are. We just really want to get him back to the UK to receive proper medical treatment and undergo the only surgery that will save him; a liver transplant. He doesn't have long left at all, we are in desperate need of help."

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A GoFundMe page set up on behalf of Nicholas has already raised more than £5,000 from over 300 generous donations. Ella wrote on the site: "My partner has already lost his mum and has nobody else other than his dad. Please please if anybody can help and spare anything or share the go fund me to raise some money to help us pay these bills or potentially pay to privately get him home we would be so so grateful."

Nicole Wootton-Cane