Lancashire man breaks neck diving into Turkey swimming pool on final day of holiday
Doctors said Will Ponter would be paralysed from the neck down after a diving accident on the last day of his holiday, and relatives say they need to get him home for special care.
The family of a Lancashire man have launched a £150,000 appeal to bring him home from Turkey after he broke his neck diving into a swimming pool.
Will Ponter, 24, was on the last day of his holiday when the accident happened on Thursday (September 3). His partner, Becky Francey, was able to get him out of the water and he received immediate care at hospital.
He underwent a 13-hour emergency surgery. Doctors said he would be paralysed from the neck down.
His family are with him in Antalya, with no timescale yet on when he will be stable enough to travel home.
Ms Francey, 27, told the BBC: "We need to get him home, he's going to need special care. It's going to be a long road to recovery."
"In a second everything just changed," she said.
"I was stood on the side as he jumped in, but he didn't come back up for a while, and when he did he was just floating face down," she said.
"I knew he wasn't messing, so I dived in, and I pulled him out and he instantly said 'I can't move'."
Mr Ponter was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred. Ms Francey said this was "because of the severity of his injuries, there was nobody there that was capable of operating on him".
The couple did not have the insurance to cover all costs and expected further costs to make their home accessible.
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A GoFundMe page has been launched to get him home. Organisers hope to raise at least £150,000.
They said the immediate, urgent need is help with funds for his stay in the ICU, where every day is costing £2,000. Transport, due to needing medical staff on board, will be roughly £120,000, they said, and there will also be the cost of a flight from Turkey back to England, as well as resources and other accessibility equipment.
"I'm just trying to stay busy and make sure everything's sorted for him so we can get him home as soon as we can," Ms Francey said.
"We just take it hour by hour, it's the only way to survive, but the kindness that has come out of all this has been incredible.
"The amount of support from home has really lifted us, it feels like a big hug from around the world."
The GoFundMe page said: "This accident was a split second of tragedy that has now reshaped the entire future of a young man who is only 24 years old."
It added: "If you can help financially, even a small amount, please do.
"We are all focusing on being positive, and praying for a recovery that may seem miraculous. But as the saying goes, \"Where there's a Will, there's a way.\""
Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-will-home-6my5h? to donate.