Hartlepool soldier who suffered horror Thailand fall that left his body shattered thanks supporters
A Hartlepool soldier has spoken for the first time about a horror plunge from a waterfall in Thailand when he believed he was going to die.
Liam Gibson suffered life-altering injuries after he slipped and fell from the idyllic Na Muang Waterfall 2, in Koh Samui, while trying to take a photo with girlfriend Lucy Burnett.
He was left with multiple shattered bones including to his legs, skull, right eye socket and arm.
After four weeks in hospital in Thailand and around ten days in Middlesbrough’s James Cook hospital, Liam, 21, is now recovering back at home in Hartlepool.
The electrical technician, who serves with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), thanked people who donated over £35,000 to help bring him home.
He said: “It’s good to be home, obviously. I get a lot more support here.
“I’m slowly recovering. My leg’s not healing as it should be flexibility wise, but I’m getting there.”
Liam and beautician Lucy were just a week into a planned four-week dream holiday in Thailand when the accident happened on April 12.
He fell approximately 30 feet from the water’s edge onto a ledge.
Liam recalled: “I remember being at the top trying to take the photo and then I just lost my footing somehow.
“I started sliding down towards the edge. I realised there was nothing for me to grab.
“At that point I was like ‘Right, I’m dying here’, because it’s like an 80 metre fall to the bottom.
“If I didn’t land on the ledge where I did I would have went the full way.
“Because of my injuries I sort of accepted ‘That’s pretty much me gone’.
“Luckily, I heard my girlfriend shouting me. It was scary to say the least.”
He spent the next two hours in and out of consciousness and bleeding heavily while the couple waited for rescuers to arrive.
Liam underwent three bouts of surgery in Thailand including putting metal plates in his skull, one to save his right eye and a titanium rod in his shattered right leg.
He could not leave until he paid his £75,000 medical bill and then had to arrange his own flight back home as his insurance company refused to pay out.
Insurers rejected his claim as they deemed the circumstances of Liam’s accident a “reckless act”.
He is fighting the claim, saying he intends to repay those who have supported him including The REME Charity and Army Benevolent Fund.
“You take out insurance for when things like that go wrong,” he said.
He thanked everyone who has supported him including those who contributed more than £35,000 in total to the GoFundMe page.
Liam, of Owton Manor, said: “We weren’t expecting anything like the support we got.
“The amount of money was just crazy. It means a massive amount.
“Without all that I don’t know what I’d do.”
Liam cannot currently put any pressure on his right leg and still has a fractured knee and hip.
He uses crutches around the house and a wheelchair outdoors.
Liam is staying positive about returning to work, adding: “The Army are being really good and have said ‘take all the time you need’.
“I’m trying to keep optimistic.”