Teacher in coma after Thailand attack to be flown home

Adam Pickles, 40, who has now been in a coma for a month, will be taken by air ambulance from a Thai intensive care unit to Leeds General Infirmary, where he is expected to arrive on Saturday.

His father Andrew, who has been keeping a vigil at his bedside with wife Adele, announced the news yesterday on a Facebook page set up to help to fund their son’s care. In a post thanking friends across the globe for their support, he said: “We still do not know how long he is likely to remain in a coma or what care he will need once he awakes.

“It is likely that the recovery process will be lengthy and require the specialist help of people experienced in this form of head injury.

“Taking everything into account, we have decided that the best option is to take Adam back to the UK and continue his treatment there.”

Mr Pickles, who has an eight-month-old son, Benjamin, was savagely beaten over the head with a metal bar by a stranger as he made his way to his home in Pattaya from a local bar on May 17.

The former Wakefield Cathedral School teacher, who is originally from Keighley, moved to Thailand seven years ago to teach at the Regent’s International School, where he is head of English.

It is the second time in a year he has been in a coma, after a horrific motorbike crash last September.

His friends and family at home and abroad have rallied to raise the cost of his medical care and repatriation bill.

They are expected to total more than £70,000, with only a fraction covered by his insurance.

At the last count, donations from loved ones and strangers touched by his plight stood at more than £41,000.

A fundraising PickleAID gig with a raffle and auction is being held at FullCircle, off Kirkstall Road, Leeds, from 2pm on Saturday July 7. Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for children, with free admission for under-twos.

For more information and to find out how to help, visit www.donatetoadam.org.