A CROWDFUNDER has raised more than £17,000 in just two days after a Mobberley man was left stranded in a Thai hospital with multiple injuries.

Jake Tonkin, 23, suffered a triple leg-break and serious head injuries after the motorbike he was riding pillion on was hit by a car in Phuket on Sunday, leaving him requiring resuscitation.

After his insurance company InsureandGo refused to pay out for surgery costs, Jake’s family started up an online fundraiser to cover the fee.

In order to push through the surgery for their youngest son, Jake’s parents sent photo ID and a copy of their bank details to the hospital, and are now out of pocket.

Jane, Jake’s mum, told the Guardian: “It’s been horrendous. The company are sticking to the script – it’s as if they are heartless and callous and without compassion.

“I’m a nurse myself and I found it unbelievable that he was lying there bleeding and in pain and nothing had been done.

“I spoke to the British embassy, and they suggested fundraising. I disregarded it, but my daughter said that’s not a bad idea.

“I wrote it all, and sat there thinking ‘what if no one donates anything’. When the very first £10 donation came in, followed by £50, we just cried.”

Knutsford Guardian:

Jake and Jane. Image courtesy of JustGiving.

Jane has now managed to speak to Jake, who has been travelling on and off for the past couple of years and has recently been touring Cambodia and Thailand with a handful of friends.

“He sounds in total agony and total pain. On Tuesday he seemed a bit more lucid. He has been very apologetic and I told him ‘don’t be daft’.

“I have had to cut ties with the insurance company – they have flatly refused to pay anything.

“They have said it classes as ‘reckless driving’ – the only person guilty of that is the driver of the vehicle who drove on the wrong side of the road and hit them.”

Initially aiming for £12,000, the target was revised up to £25,000 after an update on Jake's condition revealed the third leg break and further head injuries.

In a statement to the Guardian, InsureandGo said that the company cannot comment on individual cases without the customer's consent.

A spokesman said: "At InsureandGo, we take customer privacy very seriously, and that means unless a customer gives us direct permission to speak to the media, or anyone else, regarding their claim, we can’t comment on their case  – no matter what’s being said.

"What we can say is that we never like hearing that something bad has happened to one of our customers on a trip.

"No matter how many claims we handle, the news of an accident or an ailment still upsets the team involved.”

Click here to follow the fundraiser.