A keen cyclist who suffered a heart attack while on a riding holiday in France is stuck in hospital unable to get back home to the UK, leaving his daughter who relies on him devastated. Anthony Morris was involved in a horror crash while on a cycling holiday on August 24 and has been in a Brittany hospital ever since.
His devastated daughter Charlotte Morris has told of her anguish at being without her father, whom she relies on as a carer as she has autism. Charlotte lost her mother in a house fire when she was just eight weeks old and says her dad is the only family she has, DerbyshireLive reports.
As well as a heart attack, 63-year-old Anthony, from Allenton in Derby, also suffered a bleed on the brain and Charlotte said his weeks in hospital have also started to affect his mental health. She is desperate to get her dad back to the UK so he can go to the Royal Derby Hospital for heart surgery and then start his recovery at home with her and their cats.
Anthony is a regular visitor to France for cycling holidays, but this time he did not have travel insurance, which is why they have been left trying to raise £10,000 quickly to get him home. The longer he stays in the French hospital, the more the family has to fork out.
While Charlotte thinks she can raise the cash to pay the French hospital bills, she does not have enough money to pay for her dad to be transported back to Derby for the surgery he needs. The 22-year-old has set up a GoFundMe page so well-wishers can donate to help him.
She said: I've been unable to see him, I'm missing him on a daily basis and he's pretty much the only family I have. I lost my mum when I was eight weeks old in a house fire, so it's just been me, my dad and the cats.
"We just want him home and to the Royal Derby Hospital so he can get his heart surgery and then get him back home so I can see him again."
She added: "This is the first time he's had an accident and he didn't have travel insurance so that's why we're in this situation. The longer my dad stays there, the more we have to pay the hospital, the hospital has also told us that it would be better for him if he could get back to the UK and be put in an English hospital so we can see him."
The three weeks Anthony has spent in the hospital in France is also starting to take a toll on his mental state. Charlotte said: "He needs surgery but due to the accident he's been fluctuating both emotionally and mentally. He's now broken his own mobile phone so we can't FaceTime him on that phone. He's in no state for the surgery so they're hoping they can get him back to the UK so he can, hopefully, recover quicker since he'll be in a country he knows."
She says the whole situation is having an impact on her University of Derby work, where she's studying for a bachelor's degree in illustration. She added: "My first class is on the 27th but I do have an essay that is due in February and I haven't been able to pick it up because I have to look after the house and look after the cats."
Charlotte is appealing to anyone who can help her raise the money she needs to get in touch with her via her Gofundme page. You can also make a donation through the same page.
