Kiwi in coma in Vietnam
Kiwi expat Mark Lockwood is in a coma, clinging to life in a Vietnamese hospital after fracturing his skull in a motorcycle crash.
His sister, Wendy Turner, says his situation is critical. ‘‘He could pass at any time, is what we’ve been told,’’ she said.
‘‘They can’t give us any guarantee at the moment. They’ve just said time is a factor.
‘‘For us, the time is making sure the machine keeps him breathing,’’ she said. ‘‘They don’t want to operate because they don’t think he is stable enough.’’
His temperature was also up, which might indicate pneumonia, or some other infection.
The family was having to pay $365 a day in medical costs, and doctors in Vietnam had advised the best option would be to bring Lockwood back to New Zealand.
Originally from Palmerston North, Lockwood has been living in Vietnam for six years, has married and has a 3-year-old son.
The family live in Nha Trang, a city on Vietnam’s South Central Coast, and Lockwood has run a bar and restaurant called Kiwi Bar from their home for the past year.
The crash happened about eight days ago, and Lockwood was first taken to a local hospital, then later moved to a betterequipped hospital in Ho Chi Minh. ‘‘We had to arrange the ambulance to make the trip. That was eight hours in an ambulance,’’ Turner said.
Lockwood’s father Bob Lockwood said he felt helpless, but at least his daughter-in-law Chi Lockwood was by her husband’s side. ‘‘She sleeps on a mat outside the hospital every night. She won’t leave him. She said she doesn’t know what life will be without him.
‘‘There is a room for intensive care patients’ families. But there’s 20 patients in the ward with him. There are over 80 people in that room. It’s full.’’
He said his son’s in-laws were peasant farmers so they couldn’t afford to help with the medical bills – and with all the bank accounts in Mark Lockwood’s name, his wife could only withdraw a small amount.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is helping the family find a Vietnamese lawyer to unlock access to the accounts.
But that will take at least a month, and the little they have been able to withdraw was running out, Bob Lockwood said.
‘‘It’s not like New Zealand. It’s a whole other world. Even with a hospital, if you can’t pay you’re out on the street.’’
In desperation, the family set up a Givealittle page to help meet the immediate medical costs of keeping Lockwood alive.
He had been a student at Palmerston North Boys’ High School in the 1970s, then went to Massey University in Palmerston North, where he gained a marketing degree.
Yesterday, Wendy Turner was able to access a scan of her brother’s brain, which she hoped to get specialists in New Zealand to look at so she could get their opinion. ‘‘We’re trying to get advice from doctors in New Zealand as to the best course of action for him.’’
That could mean trying to fly him back to New Zealand. But that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars because they would have to book an entire section of a plane to fit his medical equipment in.