Western Mail

Friends aim to bring Jack home after horrific fall on party isle

- KATIE BELLIS Reporter katie.bellis@walesonlin­e.co.uk

AWELSH holidaymak­er has suffered ‘life-threatenin­g’ injuries after falling from stairs of an apartment block in Ibiza.

Jack Holland, from Ystradgynl­ais in the Swansea Valley, fell at his apartment block at Ibiza Rocks Hotel in San Antonio on August 17.

Friends of the 24-year-old have since set up a JustGiving page with the hope of raising £25,000 to ‘Bring Jack home’ via air ambulance.

“Whilst his medical bills are taken care of, this does not include bringing him home to continue with his rehabilita­tion with his loved ones by his side,” friend Charlie Arbourne wrote on the crowdfundi­ng page.

“The ball park figure we have been given by the hospital is £25,000.”

But within days of the page being set up, almost £45,000 has been raised.

Taking to social media site Facebook, friend Sean Watkins posted: “Jack suffered a life -hreatening fall from the stairs of his apartment block in the Ibiza Rocks hotel, taking almost all of the impact with his upper face and head.

“Paramedics were on the scene within minutes and treated Jack at the hotel until determined safe to transport to hospital,” he said.

He added: “He was then rushed to a private facility in Ibiza City as this is the only neurologic­al department on the Island. Following full body scans, the hospital identified a bleed on Jack’s brain as well as multiple fractures to his nose, eye sockets, forehead and both knees. He was quite simply fighting for his life.

“Thankfully the surgery went well and the surgeons were successful in their efforts to stop the bleeding. On Saturday afternoon Jack was brought out of his induced coma, a position in which he remains.

“We are sure you can all appreciate how ill Jack is, due to the injuries sustained, he doesn’t remember anything about the fall. Whilst he does wake up for very short periods of time, most of his days are spent asleep.”

Mr Watkins expressed how grateful the family were of the donations. The support from the community now means Mr Holland will be able to fly home for further treatment in the UK.

He said: “We created the page in an effort to try and raise some of the funds required to bring Jack home via air ambulance to help out with the enormous cost.

“Never in a million years did we ever expect to achieve the total, let alone surpass it within a matter of hours.

“This truly reflects what a fantastic person Jack is and how much he is loved by everyone who knows him. This means that as well as being able to fund the ambulance the minute the doctors determine Jack is well enough to fly, Jack will not have to worry about any financial commitment­s when he returns home, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.”

It is believed that Mr Holland’s parents have flown out to the island to be with their son.

As well as the fundraisin­g page, The Aubrey Arms in Ystradgynl­ais is holding a fundraisin­g event for Jack Holland on August 26.

The Aubrey Festival will be held in the car park from 2pm where they will be collecting donations and selling raffle tickets.

Police have launched an investigat­ion into the circumstan­ces surroundin­g the incident.

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