An appeal through Facebook and other websites to help a 32-year-old British man left paralyzed after a diving accident in Colombia has succeeded in raising £77,000, reported the BBC on Wednesday.
Aid worker Daniel Eley was injured while diving in a river in southern Colombia, on January 1.
Eley is currently being treated in a Bogota hospital, and his family were told that they would need to pay £90,000 to have the young man flown back to the UK. Whilst Eley’s insurance covered his healthcare in Colombia, it did not include the cost of an air ambulance.
Money for the flight was raised via websites such as Just Giving and Facebook, with over 7,500 people donating to the cause.
Eley’s stepfather David Wheatley told British media, “We have been overwhelmed by the support of the British public. The fund has given us a real hope of reuniting our family and has made such a difference to Dan’s outlook as well.”
Daniel Eley had worked in Latin America for several years, most recently on an 18-month volunteer project in Guatemala, and had planned to begin a teaching job in Cali in the new year.