Family in 'living nightmare' plea to fly dad home from Bulgaria after fall leaves him in coma

  • The family and friends say it is a living nightmare.

The family of a Bristol builder fighting for his life in a Bulgarian hospital after a fall while working on his house in the country say they are in a 'living nightmare'.

Paul Bond, 61, is believed to have fallen from his balcony and have suffered severe head injuries.

Family friend Rebekah Richardson said his two daughters, Sophie and Abi, are in Bulgaria where Paul is in a coma in hospital and on life support.

The family desperately want to fly him home and a fundraiser as been launched to raise the money needed to get him back to Bristol.

Speaking to ITV West Country, family friend Rebekah Richardson said he was only out there for few days when it's believed the accident happened.

"We don't know the nature of the fall, we don't know the time of the fall, we believe it was on the Saturday the 8th, he was found on the morning of Sunday the 9th by one of his friends who used to come and help him with building works."

Paul Bond, 61, is believed to have fallen from his balcony and have suffered severe head injuries. Credit: Family handout

Rebekah explained the doctors in Bulgaria are "very unclear about what his situation is and where they go from here."

Despite believing he has the worst prognosis at the moment Rebekah said: "We believe his condition is stable, we believe his heart is beating and his oxygen levels are fine."

The family aren't able to see Paul every day and when they do it's "only for two minutes, they can't stay with him at all and obviously they have a language barrier as well."

Rebekah explained in the UK under those circumstances it would be very different.

The hope is to bring Paul back by air ambulance.

A GoFundMe page has a goal of £30,000 to cover the cost of a private air ambulance to fly Paul back to Bristol. She said Paul’s insurance does not cover this cost.

Rebekah told ITV News West Country the family are traumatised: "It's a living nightmare for them, they're heartbroken, they're stressed, they're upset and it's just a very difficult thing to process at the moment."

"Paul is a lovely lovely man he's very bubbly, very happy, he always gives people big hugs when he see's them.

"He just lives for his daughters and his grandchildren he's a family man and lovely energy and he was working on that house for the girls and his grandchildren - that was his priority."

The family have thanked everyone who has donated so far.