USA man finally returns to W.Va. after paralyzing fall in Thailand

[Bangkoktraveler]

Charleston Gazette

May 30, 2008

 

William Baxter Harrison and his mother, Kay Dillon, are finally back in Charleston after being stuck in Thailand.

 

Harrison severed his spinal cord after falling several stories from an apartment building in Bangkok on April 19. He was in a Thai hospital until late last week, when he and his mother finally got a flight out of the country. They landed in Charleston on Saturday.

 

"The support has been absolutely incredible," Harrison said from his room at Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital on Thursday. "Friends, strangers, everybody, just massive amounts of support. I didn't expect any of this and it's really touching and I'm very grateful for all of it."

 

Harrison is paralyzed from just above the waist down, Dillon said, but her son said he is determined to walk again.

 

"I've been given many prayers and lucky charms by my friends," he said. "I maintain the faith that I will get up and walk again."

 

Details about how Harrison was injured are vague.

 

Harrison, 23, said he was not going to talk to a girlfriend when the accident happened, as has previously been reported.

"There was some confusion and some miscommunication. I have female friends in Thailand and did not at the time have a girlfriend, as such," he said. "The accident had nothing to do with a romantic failure."

 

Harrison says he was at a party and had one small glass of alcohol when a person, who Harrison said he didn't know, stopped at the party and said he was locked out of his fourth floor apartment.

 

Harrison said he scaled the side of the apartment complex to let the man in his apartment by entering through his balcony. He said he was standing on an awning on the side of the building when it broke off, sending him crashing below.

 

The next thing he remembers, he was in a Thai hospital and heavily medicated.

 

"For the first couple of days, my mind didn't function as it was supposed to," Harrison said. "I was later told by some of the nurses, once I regained the use of my mind, that I behaved in all sorts of obscene ways."

 

William Baxter Harrison and his mother, Kay Dillon, are finally back in Charleston after being stuck in Thailand.

 

Harrison severed his spinal cord after falling several stories from an apartment building in Bangkok on April 19. He was in a Thai hospital until late last week, when he and his mother finally got a flight out of the country. They landed in Charleston on Saturday.

 

"The support has been absolutely incredible," Harrison said from his room at Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital on Thursday. "Friends, strangers, everybody, just massive amounts of support. I didn't expect any of this and it's really touching and I'm very grateful for all of it."

 

Harrison is paralyzed from just above the waist down, Dillon said, but her son said he is determined to walk again.

 

"I've been given many prayers and lucky charms by my friends," he said. "I maintain the faith that I will get up and walk again."

 

Details about how Harrison was injured are vague.

 

Harrison, 23, said he was not going to talk to a girlfriend when the accident happened, as has previously been reported.

 

"There was some confusion and some miscommunication. I have female friends in Thailand and did not at the time have a girlfriend, as such," he said. "The accident had nothing to do with a romantic failure."

 

Harrison says he was at a party and had one small glass of alcohol when a person, who Harrison said he didn't know, stopped at the party and said he was locked out of his fourth floor apartment.

 

Harrison said he scaled the side of the apartment complex to let the man in his apartment by entering through his balcony. He said he was standing on an awning on the side of the building when it broke off, sending him crashing below.

 

The next thing he remembers, he was in a Thai hospital and heavily medicated.

 

"For the first couple of days, my mind didn't function as it was supposed to," Harrison said. "I was later told by some of the nurses, once I regained the use of my mind, that I behaved in all sorts of obscene ways."

 

The Thai hospital had lax hygienic standards, he said, but the doctors were very qualified.

 

"My surgeon left the day before I did to go to a big conference in some Scandinavian country for spinal specialists," Harrison said.

 

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller's office helped the family secure the flight home.

 

Harrison and Dillon twice thought they were leaving before they actually made it out of Thailand. Once, when Harrison was very sick, they thought they were going to make it out, but the flight fell through. Then, on May 23 a nurse hired by the U.S. State Department to fly home with them was at Harrison's side before the flight was cancelled.

 

Finally, a Northwest Airlines flight was secured. They flew from Bangkok to Tokyo, from Tokyo to Detroit and then from Detroit to Charleston on a small plane.

 

The flight cost the family about $25,000, Dillon said.

 

Dillon and Harrison each

 

aid they are very grateful for the help they have received.

"Senator Rockefeller stepped up to the plate in many, many ways," Dillon said. "They made sure we were well taken care of."

 

The family has received about $16,000 in donations to help pay for the flight and medical bills, she said.

 

"I'm really overwhelmed," Dillon said. "I couldn't wait to get back home. I knew, once I got back home, everything was going to be OK."

 

Link

 

 

 

[Torneyboy]

Lucky guy ..hope he can recover fully... :thumbup:

[Flashermac]

So he fell. I'd figured he was pushed or jumped. Hope he can recover.

 

 

[pe7e]

I think it's more likley he was, than the spiderman story, you would send this forgetful stranger to the building manager to get a pass key wouldn't you?

[Palatkik]

Either that or he was begging to get on the Darwin awards list?