A Kiwi who took three flights from Kazakhstan to be at his father’s bedside in Vietnam is desperate to bring him home to New Zealand after the semi-retired teacher was found unconscious in his hotel room following a severe brain injury.
Donald Gordon Wills was found unconscious on the floor by hotel staff following a severe brain haemorrhage on September 10, and was admitted to Ba Ria hospital.
According to a report by By Chelsea Boyle on NZ Herald, the 74-year-old teacher has lived in Vietnam for more than a decade, enjoying a semi-retired life where the weather was warmer.
Donald Wills with Yuliya and Maurice Wills at their wedding. Photo / Supplied
His son Maurice Wills, a computer geography specialist, was working on a construction site in Kazakhstan when he got the call.
The 33-year-old lives in Rolleston and grew up under his father’s care in Christchurch.
Maurice Wills completed 42.1km trek across Vung Tau Back Beach in a bid to raise funds to help his father. Photo / Supplied
It took three flights to be by his father’s side in Ho Chi Minh, where he had been transferred to the neurosurgery ICU department of Cho Ray Hospital, where he was in a coma for three weeks.
While he had since woken up, all indications pointed to his father not regaining movement on his left side or his speech, Wills said.
“He has opened his eyes, but he was quite weak. He can nod and he can shake his head.
“I would just like to be close to him in the time he has left and it might lift his spirits to be around his two-and-a-half year-old granddaughter.”
The long-term prognosis for someone of his age with that kind of severe brain injury was not good, Maurice Wills told the Herald.
Maurice Wills with his father Donald in Kaikōura in the 90s. Photo / Supplied
The 74-year-old was “always positive” and “never felt too sorry for himself” even if he was between jobs.
He was not employed or insured when he suffered the brain haemorrhage.
Wills said the quote he had been given to use a charter plane to move his father back to New Zealand was US$270,000 – a sum that was simply out of reach.
“I am just waiting for him to recover enough to try and get him on a commercial flight.”
Preferably one that goes directly from Ho Chi Minh to Auckland, he said.
He said the local Family Medical Centre had told him it would cost US$14,000 for a doctor and nurse to escort him on a commercial flight.
It would cost at least another US$40,000 to modify the plane to accommodate a stretcher and machines, he said.
Wills said he “will do anything for his dad” and recently completed a 42.1km trek in a bid to raise funds for his father’s return.
The distance was in parts a run – in others a walk – across the Vung Tau Back Beach and took a total of eight hours to complete.
He is raising funds through a Givealittle page.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said the New Zealand Embassy in Ha Noi and Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City was providing consular assistance to Wills and his family.
“For privacy reasons, we will not be providing any further information.”
Read original article on NZ Herald