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A British dad is fighting for his life in hospital after being attacked at a holiday hotspot. Ashton Jones, 29, was allegedly beaten "half to death" in the assault and has had part of his skull removed in emergency surgery.
The father of two, from Cwmbran, Wales, was reportedly attacked during a holiday with friends in Thailand. He flew out to Bangkok on May 30 before disappearing on a night out on June 3. He was then found on life support and unable to speak by friends at Chonburi Hospital.
As reported by Wales Online, Ashton remains unable to speak almost a month later. He is only interacting with eye movements, noises and facial expressions.
Angela Roden Shepherd, speaking on behalf of the family, said: "He’s making very steady progress. The next move is to get him back into the rehabilitation place he originally was in before he got a lung infection.
"To put into context just how miraculous a recovery Ashton has made so far, Darren was actually asked if he wanted to put a do not resuscitate order on Ashton just a week ago. Darren said ‘absolutely not’ and in a few days Ashton had made a miraculous improvement.
"I spoke to Ashton a couple of days ago. He’s talking. He’s not coherent but he’s able to communicate. He’s off the ventilator. He still has to be tube fed and he still has oxygen fed to him, and he still has to be restrained because he’s in a lot of pain."
Ashton's family hopes he'll be able to return to Wales in around three weeks time. He will then undergo further surgery to replace the part of his skull he has lost with a titanium plate
Ashton's father, Darren, has been out in Thailand for three weeks. He has been put up by two locals who have given him lifts to and from the hospital.
Angela explained: "It’s been awful but two wonderful people - a Thai lady and a British man - have taken Darren in and helped no end.
"If it wasn’t for them the translation would be completely lost and we wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. They saw what happened online and reached out to Darren.
"They’re putting him up and taking him back and forth to the hospital. They’re feeding him and looking after him. They’ve been a real godsend. We don’t know them from Adam but they’re just amazing people."
Police in Thailand believe that Ashton was assaulted. "He has been beaten half to death," Angela said. "But we don’t know the circumstances around how and why, so we’re not going to speculate.
"Ashton is starting to mumble things but it’s too incoherent. The chances of catching them are virtually zero and the chances of getting money back to get Ashton home are virtually zero too."
The family set up an online fundraiser for his treatment and to get him back to the UK. It has currently raised over £22,000.
Angela said: "We really need all the help we can get. We’re still short of the funds we need to get Ashton back. Any help at all is greatly appreciated." You can find the fundraising page here.
Earlier this month, Thailand imposed restrictions on citizens and tourists headed to Cambodia via land.
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