Attacked in Croatia

We feel the need to share this with everyone on behalf of the Thomson family.

Our kids went on a friend's holiday to Croatia. The 5 of them were staying in an apartment in Split. When they arrived they were all raving about how beautiful the country was and how it exceeded their expectations. However, this was short lived ......

On Thursday night, into the early hours of Friday morning, they were walking along the beach and confronted by a group of men. One of them punched Lewis in the face. Immediately as this happened a group of around 20 adult males chased the 5 boys along the beach. They got separated and were chased down but eventually managed to get back to their apartment.

Lewis, however, had been caught by them and was savagely beaten, kicked and stamped on, punched and hit in the face with a brick. He was then dropped into the sea and left unconscious.

He was taken to hospital and found to have a 1cm tear in his lung, two broken ribs and bad facial injuries. He was told he would be in hospital for at least 4 days and unlikely to fly home for around 2 - 3 weeks.

He didn't have travel insurance!!

As you can imagine, this is everyone's worst nightmare. Your kid in hospital in a foreign country, nobody can communicate with you, you can't get answers or speak to them and their friends are not allowed in to see them.

Once Lewis's family were notified they arranged to fly out to Croatia. The British Consulate was brilliant and managed to sort out emergency insurance to cover the emergency medical costs. However, the costs for Lewis's family travelling and staying for an unknown amount of time is something none of us prepare for.

I hope you understand and appreciate the difficult situation they have found themselves in and can help relieve some of the pressure and costs on them. You would hope everyone would do the same for you.

Any amount you could donate would be a huge help to Lewis and his family and would be much appreciated.