Man left fighting for life after fall during stag do

A MAN is fighting for his life following an accident during a stag party in Benidorm.

Joe Latham, a 34-year-old scaffolder and father-of-two from Lepton, suffered serious head injuries last Thursday evening and has been placed in an induced coma.

He was on a trip as the best man for his friend, Ross Martin.

Family and friends are fundraising to support him and his family in Spain.

His partner, 30-year-old Jodie Sykes, a self-employed hairdresser, who flew out the next day to visit him, said: “His injury could be lifethreatening.

“Although he is covered in grazes his only physical injury is a clavicle fracture, (a broken collarbone).”

She said it was still unclear how the accident had happened. Jodie said: “It happened on the first day they got there, there were 32 lads on the trip.

“They went to a bar and as they were leaving it just happened that he veered off on his own and within that 20 minutes, around 5pm to 6pm, he has had a fall.

“All we know is that he has fallen. Someone must have seen from a balcony and called the police. He suffered a cardiac arrest and a bang to his head but the medics brought him back round.

“Then they have put him in an induced coma because of his head injuries. I got a phone call from his best friend, Tom Mitchell, telling me what had happened.

“I flew out on Friday afternoon and he was in a very serious condition.

“We had problems finding him at first as he was in three different hospitals as they had moved him twice.

“The Spanish doctors and hospitals have been very good and Jet2 have been very helpful too.

“The British consulate are involved as well. I visited him three times for half-an-hour and held his hand.

“He needs to wake up. It’s too early to say what the extent of his injuries is.

“The last I saw of him before this was him giving me a kiss goodbye on Thursday. His mum Elsie Latham is supporting him over there.

“Joe is a very popular lad, he is much loved and we are just a happy, normal family and can’t believe that this has happened.”

There is a race night at Lepton Highlanders Club this Friday, at 7pm hosted by Sean Mulhall to raise money for the family as they support Joe in Spain.

So far an astonishing figure of more than £5,500 has been pledged by more than 200 friends on the Just Giving website.

Anyone who wishes to contribute should go to: https://www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ joelatham