Community raise care funds after Disneyland stroke

A community has raised thousands of pounds for a teenager with special educational who needs to be brought home after falling ill on his dream trip.

After two years of planning to celebrate his 18th birthday, Leo Tomkinson went to Disneyland Paris with his mother, grandmother and sister last month.

However, one day into the holiday, his behaviour became erratic and became sleepy which was out of character, his mother Jodie Ankrett said.

The next morning she struggled to wake him and he was rushed to hospital on 12 February. He had suffered a stroke.

The teenager from Walsall had slipped into a coma and when he woke up after a few days on life support, he was unable to walk, talk, eat or open his eyes.

"It was terrifying, I've never been religious but I've never prayed so much in all my life, " Ms Ankrett, 37, told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Trying to deal with the situation in Paris was frustrating, I was angry and upset and the language barrier [made things difficult]."

Doctors have said the stroke may have been caused by a blood infection.

To bring him back to the UK in an ambulance with a trained nurse the family had to pay £5,000 with the full sum of his medical bill expected to be between £20,000 to £40,000.

As Mr Tomkinson has several pre-existing conditions - including muscular dystrophy - which were not declared, his care was not covered by the travel insurance provider.

This left his mother to front the cost.

"It's been an absolute nightmare, most of the money I've had to borrow from family and friends. It's been a lot of begging and borrowing."

To help, family friend Angel Martin from Newcastle-under-Lyme launched an online fundraiser.

So far, 94 people have come forward with donations and about £2,500 has been raised.

The mother of two added: "I'm terrified, I've got to worry about Leo getting better and I've got to worry about the medical bill and I don't know what that figure will be until I open that letter."

Ms Martin added: "[The amount we've raised] so far is phenomenal but the last two days we've had no new donations."

Although he is now back home, for Leo the road to recovery remains a tough one.

His mother said: "Doctors say it's going to be a long process and they can't tell me how long it will take for him to recover. He improves then it feels like we take a step backwards when he gets another infection.

"It's very frustrating, not just for me but for Leo as well.

"I'm struggling every day, I don't sleep very well."

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