York man seriously ill in hospital after being hit by truck in Thailand

A fundraiser has been set up for a York-born man who has been seriously injured following a bike collision in Thailand. Chris Richardson, left York last year to go to Thailand to begin training in Muay Thai, a Thai style of kickboxing. However, he is now in a different fight, as he recovers from a series of terrible injuries following his accident.

Chris got on his bike to go get water guns for a popular water gun festival in Koh Samui, where he lives, when he was hit by a pickup truck and knocked to the ground. Chris was in a serious condition, he broke his collarbone, shoulders, left wrist, hip and his eye socket. Due to the serious nature of his injuries he was airlifted to Bangkok hospital where he spent three days undergoing various surgeries.

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He had to be airlifted to a Bangkok hospital (Image: Emmy Watson/Allison Strahorn)

Chris’ close friend and fellow fighter Allison Strahorn spoke to YorkshireLive about the fundraiser, saying it was a ‘miracle’ he didn’t suffer any spinal or brain injuries. Allison rushed to the hospital the moment she heard of his accident. She said: “I actually went into instant shock, I went straight to the hospital, I just had to check he was okay,

“The moment we got there, he just starts cracking jokes but we were all pretty terrified, the doctors were mainly concerned, with the face, the hip and the ankle at first.” “They took a while to assess him because with the hip it was really hard at first to find out what happened.” Allison spoke of Chris’ personality, and always putting himself above others.

When he first arrived in Thailand he threw himself straight into his training, winning matches immediately and is always happy to have a pint of Guinness afterwards.

Chris is always down for a pint, and looking to make people laugh (Image: Allison Strahorn)

She said: “He’s a fantastic bloke, he loves to sit with his mates and have a drink, “He’s always looking out for everyone other than himself, we all just adore him, if anyone is having a bad day, he’s the first one to cheer someone up.” Allison along with members of Chris’ family has set up a Gofundme page to raise the money to cover the cost of his surgery.

Chris has health insurance but the claim was denied and now the family are trying to raise GBP60,000 to cover medical bills. So far the fundraiser has received GBP27,000 in donations from friends, family and anonymous donators. Allison said she was so grateful of the support they have received and Chris is already doing better.

Due to the nature of his injuries, he has been receiving several surgeries, including one on his eye socket and he will soon require a skin graft on his hip. Doctors have said that he can return to his training when healed but Chris may never fight again. Allison said: “The doctors have all said he can go back to his training but whether he can fight ever again, we are not sure, it all depends on healing,

“I think if anyone can do it, Chris probably can but he’s been in tremendous pain and it’s been a crazy couple of weeks, I think just his attitude has been amazing throughout the whole thing and he’s incredibly humbled about everything, he’s just a beautiful soul.”

Donations to Chris’ fundraiser can be made here.