Family’s desperate effort to pay for medevac flight for Perth father James Lothian from Thailand hospital

A Perth father fighting for his life in a Thailand hospital remains in “agony” and bed bound as his family desperately tries to raise the funds for a medevac back to Australia. James Lothian — a fly-in, fly-out mining construction worker — has been in the intensive care unit in Thailand’s Chonburi Hospital for the past five months. The 41-year-old father was on a break from work and visiting his wife and five-year-old son when he was involved in a horrific car accident in Chonburi in March. He was placed on a ventilator in the ICU with significant injuries to his liver and intestines. After a failed surgery and a septicemia infection, Mr Lothian faced the grim possibility of dying in his overseas hospital bed if he did not receive an o-negative blood injection. In a race against time, his family made a desperate plea for ex-pats and travellers who have the rare type of blood to donate. Their plea was successful and Mr Lothian received the blood this week. However, the Lothian family face the next challenge of trying to bring the “severely malnourished” father back to Australia to prevent further infections and potentially save his life. “We need to get him back home as the outcome if he does not return, and continues to be malnourished or get further infections, he likely won’t survive,” his sister Stacey Lothian said. Ms Lothian said her brother, who was previously a dedicated and active father, had lost more than 40kg and is being fed via a feeding tube. “James is in agony ... we have made sure he is being given regular pain relief,” she said. Ms Lothian said she felt the hospital was under pressure. “I think the reality has set in about the outcome,” she said. “People are passing away and being left in rooms for hours ... the hospital is doing it’s best with what they have, but they don’t have enough staff for the volume of people and the severity of injuries.” So far, Mr Lothian has racked up more than $70,000 in hospital bills and a medical evacuation flight is expected to cost about $150,000. The Lothian family, as they repeatedly travel back and forth to their sick family member, are desperately trying to raise funds for the vital medevac flight. Donations can be made to the GoFundMe page here.