A close friend of a Camden doctor who was left in a coma after a lorry hit him in Las Vegas has urged people to keep donating to bring him back to the UK.
More than £130,000 has been raised to cover the cost of treatment and a specialist medical flight from the US for Dr Sebastian Kola-Bankole, of St Pancras Way, Camden Town.
The 35-year-old was left critically ill and in a medically-induced coma after a freight lorry hit him while he was in the US for a friend’s wedding.
His family cannot find any evidence he took out travel insurance, and face having to pay for the escalating bills themselves.
In response, his loved ones have launched a fundraising campaign to raise £250,000 to bring him back home.
“The reaction has been incredible,” said his close friend, 32-year-old anaesthetist Dr Ros Perring, whose husband had Dr Kola-Bankole as his best man at their wedding in 2013.
The former Camden School for Girls pupil, who grew up in Tufnell Park and now lives near Green Lanes, added: “The cost of getting him home will be significant because of the pain, that’s why our focus is to get him back here so we can care for him properly.”
Dr Perring has known Dr Kola-Bankole for six years, while her husband, Dr Pawandeep Sarai, has been friends with the doctor since they were at medical school together 12 years ago.
The mother-of-one said: “He’s an incredible person, and you can see that from the amazing response.
“Everywhere he goes, he is remembered. You just have to meet him once.”
Dr Kola-Bankole is thought to have been hit outside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
The doctor, who works in the infectious diseases department of the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, is currently in intensive care at the Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.
It will be at least two weeks before he can possibly be moved.
The road accident is being investigated by Las Vegas police.
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