Adam Pickles’ ‘signs of recovery’ after Thailand attack

A West Yorkshire teacher who has been in a coma for 17 months after being attacked in Thailand is showing signs of recovery, his parents have said.

Adam Pickles, 41, was attacked in Pattaya in May 2012 in what is thought to have been a road rage incident. Sean Tinsley, 43, from Wolverhampton, has been charged with attempted murder.

Mr Pickles’ mother, Adele, said progress was faster than expected since he moved to a care home in York in July. “Adam is very settled, we see him every day, which helps,” she said.

Mr Pickles had lived in Thailand for seven years at the time he was attacked with an iron bar. He worked as an English teacher at a local college and has a two-year-old son.

His insurance through work only covered less than 10% of the actual costs of his care in Thailand following the attack. Mrs Pickles said she had had to remortgage the family home near Leeds to pay for their son’s initial care and the cost of his repatriation. The family believe the total cost was about £130,000, which included £68,000 to fly him back to the UK by air ambulance. Intensive care treatment in a Thai hospital also cost the family up to £2,000 a day. Friends raised more than £50,000 via a Facebook appeal to help meet some of the costs.

Although still in a coma, Mr Pickles is showing signs of communicating. “The other day he put my hand to his mouth and kissed it, which was absolutely wonderful and a bit heartbreaking at the same time,” his mother said.

Mr Tinsley is currently on bail in Thailand and is next due to appear in a Thai court on 21 February.

Report from the BBC

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