A FORMER casino employee in Bournemouth has been left fighting for his life in a Thailand hospital after suffering a severe brain bleed.

Chris James, who used to work as the head cashier at the Royal Bath Hotel, has had to have a lifesaving procedure to remove half his skull to reduce the swelling caused by intracranial hematoma.

The 73-year-old, who used to own a sweet shop in Charminster, moved out to Thailand with his wife 27 years ago.

Having developed a chest infection before Christmas, he was told to take antibiotics and recovery at his home, where he suffered a freak accident the following day on December 22.

His daughter Kathryn James said: “A few days before going into hospital, he got a chest infection. He stayed in overnight and was given antibiotic and told to recover at home.

“He was at his home for a couple of days, but he was struggling with the heat in the house, so he decide to go outside to cool down. His house is on stilts and has a balcony with steps that lead down to the ground.

“He was sat on one of the bottom steps and blacked out suddenly and hit his head on a concrete floor and suffered a brain bleed. They had to insert a couple of stents into his brain to control the swelling.”

His sudden loss of consciousness was found to have come from pneumonia in the week leading up to his fall.

Although he suffered many complications due to fevers and abnormal leak on the brain, Mr James had a tracheotomy fitted on January 19 and was believed to be stable.

However, his condition is said to have deteriorated rapidly after contracting another chest infection, meaning he is under constant supervision at the intensive care unit at state hospital in HuaHin District, three hours from Thailand’s capital Bangkok.

Although Mr James receives a retirement visa equivalent to £11,000, his family has admitted they didn’t take out the correct cove to pay for his ongoing fees.

Although Kathryn, her brother and other family members have helped fund his hospital costs, with fees as high as £1,000 a day, the family have had to look for external funding to help provide vital care for the Thailand expat.

Kathryn James has set up a crowdfunding page to raise money to cover the ongoing hospital fees and subsequent rehabilitation costs to save her dad’s life.

A campaign on Instagram called @awarenessforchris has been set up by a friend of Kathryn and has already attracted the attention of 124 followers including Harry Redknapp.

“His insurance and what we can provide as a family isn’t going to cover it.

“After five days in hospital, the amount we needed to pay stood at £4,500 so we are pretty worried that, even if he doesn’t pull through, we will have to deal with the financial loss on top of losing him.

“We also want to set up a pebble search for people to take part in. We will be painting a load of peddles with colourful designs and the #awarenessforchris so people can find them and then relocate the for someone else to find.”

“However, with Covid, of course it limits what we can do and obviously we can’t travel out there either.”

With Chris James expected to remain in hospital for another two months, the family are looking to raise £30,000 and, so far, the GoFundMe page has raised over £1,700 to help the 73-year-old.

“With the Thai border being shut, we can’t go over to see him and, if he doesn’t pull through, we are not going to be able to make his funeral,” said Kathryn.

“His wife has been sleeping by his bedside every night, but she isn’t going to be able to FaceTime us now as he is in the ICU unit.

“My brother and I will go out there as soon as we are able to but right now, we are just having to wait for phone calls.

“With Covid, it has just added a whole layer of problems on top of what is already going on.”

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-medical-costs-for-brain-injury-thailand?member=7659486&rcid=967886c8a8fc4dd185d3a81e08d43b96&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na%20share-sheet&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR00edYeImb5FPupAtX2R-wvSoUq8g1BJW4MIgAAdLrUAfYph5f1Zx6kGn4.