Donations flood in for seriously injured Doncaster couple stranded in Vietnam after road smash

Big hearted well-wishers have come to the aid of a Doncaster couple stranded in Vietnam after a horror road smash.
Doncaster backpackers Sarah Liddle and Rhys Sykes.Doncaster backpackers Sarah Liddle and Rhys Sykes.
Doncaster backpackers Sarah Liddle and Rhys Sykes.

Doncaster backpackers Rhys Sykes and Sarah Liddle are marooned 6,000 miles from home following a motorbike smash in the Asian country which left Sarah with a badly broken leg and unable to fly back home.

The young couple launched an appeal for help yesterday to fly back to the United Kingdom for urgent medical treatment after being told that a special evacuation flight will cost them £30,000.

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And since the appeal was launched, nearly £2,000 has been raised - more than £1,000 of it coming in in the last 24 hours.

Tragedy struck for the couple, both former Hungerhill School pupils, on Valentine's Day when the hired motorbike they were travelling on through the Far East country was smashed into by another motorcycle.

Rhys said: "We were travelling on a moped down a country road when we saw a coach coming the other way.

"We moved over to give room as the road was narrow but all of a sudden another moped came speeding out from behind the coach and hit us head on at speed."

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Sarah, 23, of Dunsville and Rhys, 24, of Hatfield, were hurled from the bike and onto the side of the road, with both suffering serious injuries.

Sarah suffered three separate breaks to her left leg and was left with blood pouring from an open wound while Rhys suffered a broken foot, broken fingers and seriously grazed arms.

The couple were part way through a backpacking trip around Asia and Australasia, having setting off from the UK shortly before Christmas and having already visited Thailand and Laos before crossing the border into Vietnam where tragedy struck. The couple were due to celebrate their first anniversary on February 15 - the day after the accident.

The couple are currently locked in a battle of red tape and legal minefields with their travel insurers over the validity of their policy as well as airlines, medical institutions, and the British and Vietnamese authorities. The couple had travel insurance but have been told that their policy will not cover the cost of the flight due to a technicality.

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After spending eight days in hospital, the pair were declared fit to fly by medics - but on arriving at the airport in Ho Chi Minh, they were told they would not be able to board - and are now currently based in a hotel in the city while they consider their next move.

To donate to the appeal visit Get Sarah Home Just Giving Page