Family launch appeal to fly British student, 21, home from the US after he was left in a coma when he was hit by a car during study trip to San Francisco
- Matt Cotton was hit by a car as he walked through Ingleside in San Francisco
- The 21-year-old was in the US as part of his American Studies degree
- He suffered a bleed on the brain a severely fractured pelvis and broken ribs
A desperate family have launched an appeal to fly their son home from the US after he was left in a coma following an accident during a study trip to San Francisco.
Student Matt Cotton was hit by a car as he walked through the Ingleside district of the city.
The 21-year-old who is a student at the University of East Anglia in Norwich had been in the US as part of his American Studies degree.
His family, who live in Devon, have now said they are in a ‘living’ hell, as they wait for his condition to improve.
Student Matt Cotton (pictured above) was hit by a car as he walked through the Ingleside district of San Francisco
Matt’s family have now said they are in a ‘living’ hell, as they wait for his condition to improve (he is pictured above with a member of his family)
Matt was in a coma for the first three days and suffered a bleed on the brain and a severely fractured pelvis. He also has broken ribs which have punctured a lung and caused an infection.
He began to show signs of recovery at the end of last week and his family have launched an online appeal to help bring him home and care for him when he returns to South Devon.
His mother Sue Cotton, who lives in Paington has flown out to the US to be with her son.
Matt’s aunt Jayne Griffiths has set up the fundraiser on Go Fund Me and told the Norwich Evening News: ‘The zeroes on the end of travel insurance figures run out very quickly when you need serious medical care.
Matt (pictured above) began to show signs of improvement last week and his mother has flown to the US to be with him
‘We all feel completely helpless, and him being so far from home makes it even harder. We are hoping he recovers, but we still don’t know to what extent that will be.’
Mrs Griffiths and her husband Andrew set up the fundraising campaign to help take the strain off his mother.
So far more than £3,500 has been donated to help airlift Mr Cotton home and to support his family throughout treatment.
Andrew said parents will always be concerned when their children fly the nest to ‘broaden their horizons’.
However, he added that when his sister said goodbye to her son when he left for the US, no one expected such bad news.
‘I hope that between us we can give Sue some financial support in this awful time.
‘We don’t know how long she will be in the States and what the financial implications will be in the future, but every little bit we can give for her and Matt will help.’