A RENFREWSHIRE woman who became seriously ill in Thailand has arrived back in Scotland, thanks to a massive fundraising drive.
Rebekah Fulton, 25, was admitted to hospital after she was struck down by a serious bacterial infection on the paradise island of Ko Phi Phi Don.
That led to her dad, James Geddes, launching a GoFundMe page to pay for a mercy flight to bring her home.
Within weeks, more than £25,000 was raised as well-wishers across the world offered their support.
A plane carrying James and Rebekah, as well as medical experts, touched down at Edinburgh Airport on Monday.
An ambulance then took Rebekah straight to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, in Paisley, before she was allowed to continue her recovery at her gran’s house in Barrhead.
James, 48, told The Gazette: “Rebekah was taken straight to the RAH for some blood tests.
“She still had an elevated white blood cell count, however the hospital didn’t consider this too much of a problem as they are confident that she has beaten the infection.”
Rebekah, a former pupil at Gleniffer High School, in Paisley, had been travelling around Asia and Australia before settling down on Ko Phi Phi Don, where she held a non-visitor status visa.
She had complained of an ear infection but the extent of her illness only became clear to James when the owner of the hostel where she was staying called him to raise the alarm.
James decided to fly to Thailand and, after arriving on Ko Phi Phi Don, took Rebekah straight to the island’s medical facility.
Concerned by a lack of facilities there, he then hired a private speedboat to take her to a larger hospital in Phuket before the fundraising drive paid for her flight home to Scotland.
James said. “I want to thank everyone for their generosity.”
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