A young North Yorkshire man broke his back in two places after falling from a balcony during a stag do in Portugal.
Jakob Davies, 25, had to have emergency surgery, without which doctors feared he wouldn’t walk again.
He’s also suffered a broken ankle and a gash to his head. Jakob’s now in a Portuguese hospital and his friends have launched a fundraising campaign to pay for his treatment and to get him home.
Jakob and 26 of his friends jetted off to Albufeira on Thursday 4 June for four nights on a stag break.
His friend Ben Nendick from Malton works with Jakob – they are both engineers at Kingspan in Sherburn.
Ben said they were having a great time when disaster struck on the Friday night. Jakob had left the group and returned to the apartment where he was staying.
“We then got these phone calls and texts from various other people saying that he’s fallen off a third storey balcony. And then obviously all the panic sets in,” Ben told YorkMix.
“Initially after the fall he was still conscious, and then I’m guessing the shock must have set in, and then he’s obviously passed out.
“Jacob doesn’t remember any of this, and because obviously we weren’t there, we don’t know what happened and how it happened. All we know is that he fell from this balcony.”
He was taken to hospital. Ben said: “He was bleeding from his head quite severely, because he had a great big gash on his head.
“So they didn’t know if he’d suffered brain damage, or what the extent of his injuries were.
“Later on we found out that he had a broken back in two places – his lower back. And he’s also got a broken ankle in two places – he’s broken his foot and his ankle.”
The hospital allowed two of Jakob’s friends to visit, and his friends and family were contacted.
His grandparents were in Spain at the time of the accident so drove to be with him, and his mum and brother were flying out to join them.
This Friday night, “he was rushed in for an operation on his back because if he didn’t have the surgery he could have potentially been paralysed for the rest of his life,” Ben said.
Jakob was initially taken to Hospital Particular do Algarve in Faro before being transferred to another hospital for surgery.
“He’s been in the operating theatre, he’s come out the other side, he is in a lot of pain,” Ben told us.
“He said he’s got screws and pins and god knows what in his back at the moment. As of now, I believe it’s gone to plan, but I’m not entirely sure.”
Ben says Jakob had health cover, but the insurance company says because he had alcohol in his system at the time of his fall, the policy is void.
His grandparents are acting as guarantors. But they are already facing a bill of more than £40,000 – and that’s without the cost of transporting him home.
That’s why Ben and Jakob’s other friends have set up the GoFundMe page – to raise money to help cover the medical fees and bring him home to North Yorkshire. They are aiming for a first target of £6,500.
“If people could help in any way, shape, or form, whether it’s sharing it, or donating – even if it’s just a couple of pounds, every little bit helps,” Ben said.
“I’d like to think someone would do the same for me if I was in his situation.”
