Video download link

We've had a number of requests for a download link for the video, well your wish is our command, here it is:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19368686/HELP%20ADAM%20VIDEO.mp4

The file is 46Mb

Andrew's update on Adam 30/5/12

Hi everyone, lots of news from Thailand today, I'm trying to ascertain how much of it I can share with you. Once I get the go ahead I'm going to need all of your People Power to directly help Adam. In the meantime, I have today's update from Andrew...

Update 30/5/12
Thank you once again to everybody for all your wonderful messages and stories many are new and make us smile, which is important to us. We have also heard from some of our old friends, which is wonderful and something we will follow up on later.
We have spoken to Adams specialist today . The brain swelling is now not a problem. At the start this was the greatest threat to his life and he is now over this.
The recurring fever or pneumonia continues to be a problem, although not serious at this point in time. They are intending to do a tracheotomy tomorrow at 1:00 pm Thai time (7:00 am UK time) and the operation will last an hour. We have now gone through the ritual of being informed of the cost for the operation, the anaesthetics etc and signing it off, but we have become hardened to this.
However, when it is done it means that he will be breathing without mechanical assistance and will be at less risk from infection. His heart rate and blood pressure are good.
The doctors are still looking at another two weeks in coma and are saying this will be a slow process (how little they know Adam), but we are over the first hurdle. Nobody can tell us how many hurdles there are, but we are still making progress.
Tonight they have removed the bandages from his head and his hair is growing again, quite quickly, he actually looks well and peaceful .
We have music set up in his room and people are bringing in CDs with an assortment of music and comedy shows. WE hope that this will bring him back to consciousness more quickly.
Thank you all again and please send him your prayers for tomorrow.
Andrew and Adele

URGENT

I've just emailed William Hague asking for a meeting.
Please email him too & ask him to meet me as soon as possible.
haguew@parliament.uk

Viral video

...I've just seen the video that Jody Burley has made for our campaign.

It's incredible.

He's made a masterpiece in very little time with very little source material.

I can't wait for him to share it & then we can spread this message further & faster

2nd part of Monday's update

Ok, firstly Katie posted this earlier...

Katie Jones

Hello all - I've just spoken with Adele and Andrew (Adams parents) who are overwhelmed with the love and support for Adam on here. When they are visiting Adam they are telling him of the stories and memories that people are posting and its not only helping them it is most definately helping Adam. (bet hes having a right good chuckle) They're sure he is responding to what they are talking to him about so PLEASE keep all those lovely tales and words of encouragement coming. It does really really help so please keep them flooding in. Thanks again.

oh and keep on donating URGENTLY.

ps. listen to Real Radio today, and tomorrow listen to Capital FM and Radio Leeds along with watching Look North - they are all covering Adams story and are increasing exposure - we need ALL the help we can get to keep those donations flooding in.

Katie, media superstar that she is, recorded an interview at the weekend that played out today on Real Radio.  She also managed to fit in around her day job a pre-recorded TV interview with Look North, which will be shown tomorrow evening.

I will be on Radio Leeds at 8am tomorrow morning.

Our website is up & running

www.donatetoadam.org

Jo Burley has made a video that I'm about to check out now, if it's good & it gets the seal of approval then we need it to go viral, & that means YOU GUYS!!!

People Power

While we still need your donations, now more than ever, I don't want to ask the people that have given again & again (mind you, you probably have just been paid, nudge, nudge).
So here's a way you can help for free -
I'm not prepared to accept the UK Govt will leave the victim of a violent crime stranded in such exceptional circumstances.
So here's what you need to do.
If all Adam's UK based friends did this I'm sure we would get results!
1. Visit this site:
http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/
2. Find out who your M.P. is & their address.
3. WRITE TO THEM!

Tell them of Adam's plight, tell them about the Facebook page, tell them he needs help!

First part of Monday's update

Lots of exciting news today, I'll write more this evening when I'm back from hospital (my baby & lady are still there whilst he learns to feed). The most important things can't wait though. 1. We launched www.donatetoadam.org 2. Msg from Andrew... Hi All, It feels like it has been a very tiring day. Adam is progressing well. We have talked to the doctor and an assistant and the nurse and all agree the progress is good. His main doctor is back tomorrow. He hasnt seen him for three maybe four days and his views on Adam's recovery will be the ones that we can rely on. A junior doctor who  looks after the basic things of keeping you alive said that a few days ago Adam's heart was weak and not pumping enough blood to the brain, and so they had to  give him drugs to increase his blood pressure. But they do not need to do this now,  "Adam has put this right himself without drugs" - so no surprises the same old guy fighting through. As fas as I can tell the main problem is now keeping the fluid and urine balance right and then waiting for him to wake up. There is no doubt that he is now aware of us and conversation and at one point tonight appeared to be fighting to communicate. Will send more tomorrow

Sorry for the delay in blogging (I told you I was new to it!)
I'm the only one that writes this blog & I've been busy welcoming my baby son into the world!

So forgive me for simply copying & pasting what has been happening on the Facebook page...
Our website should be launched tomorrow by the way, just fine tuning now.

Katie Jones

A quick media/fundraising update for you all.

This last week we've been truly amazed by everyones generosity and the support for Adam is truly incredible. People that know and love Adam have donated in addition to so so many people who have never met him. We're still desperately trying to spread the word to keep on with the funds.

SO FAR - we have raised just over £17,500 which is just fabulous so again MASSIVE thanks, In addition to this we have the money raised in Thailand and we will get an update on the figures over there as soon as possible. So we're certainly heading in the right direction but we desperately and urgently need people to keep on donating. A tenner from everyone on this page would go absolutely miles. Please take 5 mins from your day to donate if you haven't already.

Media wise we are making some headway. Adams story has appeared in the Yorkshire Post, Wakefield Express, Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Daily Star, Daily Mail - online.

We've done an interview with Real Radio which will hopefully air tomorrow - keep listening and ask others to listen too. There is potential of us being on Look North tomorrow too so keep your eyes peeled for his story on there.

Please keep up the good work and keep spreading the word - this time last week we started this facebook group and its taken a week to get to 5242 members - keep spreading the word and see if we can do the same in the next week coming. Really keen to hear of any more things people can do to help.

We have a website that has been built - it should be launched on here so keep an eye on here for announcements.

There is a fund-raising event that is in the midst of being organised. Its looking like it will be in Leeds on Saturday June 16th so please keep an eye on here where it will be listed as an event. Get the date in your diaries. It will be afternoon fun into evening fun. Bands/music/bbq etc. Should be good. BE THERE

[I learnt tonight that his date may have changed already!  I've left Matt & Lee in charge of organising the live event, and well...I'm sure they'll get it sorted]

This post from Katie was from an email from Adam's Dad Andrew which he asked to be posted....

Katie Jones

Hi everyone. Again a MASSIVE thanks to all of you for donating, re-posting and generally spreading the world. I have just had an update from Adele and Andrew and they are keen to share it all with you all.

Saturday 26/05/2012

Keep on sending all your memories and stories about how Adam has touched your life, we, his parents, cannot begin to tell you how much this is helping us and we believe that all the love and support that is coming Adam’s way is having an impact.

Adam is still in a coma and still on life support, but we tell him about all the messages and the help he is receiving both practical and spiritual and we think we can detect a response. Today the doctor said :
‘everything the same as yesterday but better’

They are treating a number of problems at the same time, but the most important is that the brain swelling is still decreasing.

Tonight we noticed some REM movement to his eyes and his blood pressure has improved. We all know what a strong man Adam is and despite what the physical diagnosis shows, we who know and love Adam know what he can achieve. He constantly astounds us.

Thank you to all his wonderful friends too numerous to mention but all important. Our deepest gratitude to Neil and Katie, Rick, Steve and Nid. Out of this terrible and unfathomable event has come some of the most profound and caring love and this is what we all need to focus on.
Just remember folks that good can always overcome evil, don’t let go.

Love to you all

Adele and Andrew ( Adam’s Mum and Dad)

PS I am going to get a T shirt made with that message on: “Everything the same as yesterday but better”

[This has started a search on the site for T-shirt suppliers & another awareness raising & fundraising prospect]

And finally this I posted from Andrew today...

Neil Clappison

Just received an update from Andrew....
(Campaign update from Katie later too!)

Hi everyone,

First a little background information.

The doctor that we have mentioned previously is one of a team looking after Adam. He has been away for the past few days and we have been talking to the surgeon that carried out the operation and another doctor (I regret I do not know his name, but will find out). He is the one that made the comment “Everything the same as yesterday, but better”. He is quite serious, looks down whilst he is thinking and chooses his words carefully. It is scary, because whilst you are waiting for him to say something you are fearing the worst.

Yesterday he told us that they had done a scan and there were signs of epilepsy and he needed to do another scan.

Today we were waiting for his report, holding our breath and he looked up and smiled and said “Yes, today things better”. The brain swelling is still coming down, the fever has gone and he is doing better. He told us they planned to do another scan later in the day.
When we visited tonight they told us that they had done the scan and there were no signs of epilepsy, it had gone. In addition tonight the nurse told us that the Doctor had visited Adam, said Adam’s name and Adam responded.

Great news.

Keep the positive energy going.

Love to you all

Andrew and Adele

A comment has just been raised on the site about people thinking our campaign is a scam.  This is how I responded...

Yes unfortunately because of the nature of this campaign people will always be sceptical. I don't know what to suggest, at this stage we can't 'prove' anything to people. We're hardly likely to publish photographs of someone in an intensive care unit. Read through this group is the best idea. So many people know Adam, how can it be a scam?!


Tomorrow this whole story is featuring quite prominently in the Yorkshire Post. This is considered to be the broadsheet newspaper of the North of England. After that the campaign is going to be pushed further afield & we honestly don't know what's going to happen to it then. We're hoping national newspapers & television news.


That should convince people

This is one of my favourite posts from the Facebook group, from Paul Cullen:

When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.

Japanese Proverb




How powerful is that when you look at all of the posts!

I posted this to the site on Tuesday on behalf of Adam's father, Andrew:

On behalf of Adam, Adele, Pafan little Ben and myself I would like to say a big thank you to all of Adam’s friends for the fantastic messages and support. I have asked Neil to post this message to keep everything up to date.

At one point we thought there were signs of movement, but I think we were being too optimistic.

Physically he is improving daily and the chances of his survival are getting better, but still not assured. The doctor said that his heart is now beating strongly, and there is all round improvement.

The next risk is that of infection and pneumonia. There are some signs of fever and he has been put on very strong anti-biotics that will fight bacteria in his body and in his brain. This is being closely monitored and the doctor feels that this is under control.

His brain is still swollen and his skull is still open to prevent the swelling causing further damage. We thought the blow to his head had affected only the left cortex, but there are signs of bleeding having taken place elsewhere in the brain. However, the operation worked and the bleeding has stopped and there are no blood clots, nor is there any need for a further operation.

The doctors think he may well be in a coma for up to four weeks.

There have been numerous requests for visits. The doctor does not want visitors at the moment. There is a sign on is door saying visitors to remain outside the room. We thought we should talk constantly to him, but have been told not to. They do not want him to come out of coma too quickly as he may then go into shock.

The costs are frightening and each time there is a change in medication we receive a phone call to approve payment. Today we received a call about a medication change for the next six days which would be 150,000 baht (£3000) for the medication alone.

I apologise if this message sounds a little despondent, that is not the intention. His progress has been amazing, but I believe that it is important to recognise where we are starting from. There will be plenty of opportunity for his friends in Thailand and England to spend time with him and to help bring him back to us once we are through this critical stage. I know one thing for certain, if anyone in this world is capable of fighting and overcoming this, it is Adam.

Our love and thanks to you all.

Forgive the sparseness of this blog, I've never tried blogging before.  I'll try & keep this as updated as possible with news & updates on how Adam is doing & progress that we are making with the campaign.

Already in less than a week the Facebook Group has generated a huge amount of publicity & donations.
The publicity is great because although we have over £14,000 donated now, we are going to need a hell of a lot more, and the only way to raise this is to expand our publicity.

Tomorrow phase 2 starts & this campaign moves into more traditional media, from there who knows what will happen.
If the first 4 days of the campaign are anything to go by ANYTHING is possible!

If this is your first introduction to this campaign, I would urge you to try & see the Facebook Group that started all this off on Sunday afternoon, when I sent invites to my friends.
I have been overwhelmed with the amount of love & support for Adam, and the stories, photos & testimonies from hundreds of people on the now 4000+ member strong group.

www.facebook.com/groups/adampickles

Thank-you for reading, if you've got this far you'll probably be wanting to give us some money round about now :)

The 3 ways of donating are:

UK:

A/C NAME - ADAM PICKLES FUNDRAISING ACCOUNT
S/C 40-13-48
A/C 90049611

IBAN: GB20MIDL40134890049611
BIC CODE: MIDLGB2173S

HSBC Bank plc
23 Market Street
Brighouse
HD6 1AR


Thailand:

Account Name: Pauline Adele Pickles
Bank: Bangkok Bank
Branch: North Pattaya
Account number: 9610093438
(this can be done at an ATM)


International:

make PayPal donations to: donatetoadam@hotmail.com

Hi everyone - I wanted to update you with the latest statement from Adele and Andrew that we had through earlier. Good news I feel and definately a step in the right direction.

Thursday 24th June

We have some good news today.

First I would like to tell you about Adam’s doctor, Mr Karongkorn. He is a lovely and helpful man. His English is excellent, he smiles kindly and he always has time to talk to us and to explain. We feel that we have absolute trust in him, in his abilities and the work that he is doing. He explains things in detail in a non technical way and is totally honest. We know the risks but also know the progress that is being made. He shows us the actual scans on the days that they are done so that we can see the changes . I always said that I would be fascinated to see inside Adam’s head, well now I have done it and as Adam and Ali would say “it aint pretty!”

Adam is in a small room with a glass front wall. There is a nurse sat outside at all times, there are wires tubes and displays everywhere. Today when we visited Adele talked to him and stroked his arm and his left shoulder moved. She did it again and the same thing happened, we were excited but also frightened to be too hopeful.

Later when we talked to Dr. Karongkorn he told us that the swelling in his brain was going down. This is the most important thing and that he was hopeful that by Friday or Saturday he could be out of danger from this. The ani-biotiics are working and there is no allergic reaction. They have had problems balancing the fluids in his body , but they are now happy with this. More importantly, they have done a few tests such as nipping or pinching the left side of his body and they were getting a reaction and he was very pleased with this. So we think the response we saw was real.

Every journey, no matter how long starts with a single step, and we are now hopeful that we have taken that first step.

Love to you all

Campaign introduction

This is a request no-one should have to write & one I wish I didn’t need to. It’s one of those stories you hear about & wonder how true it is, or that it will never happen to you.

Well it’s happening now to my best friend.
I’ll cut to the chase, I’m asking for donations.

Here’s the story. Last week, my friend Adam who has lived in Thailand for 7 years was attacked with intent to kill by an as yet unknown Westerner. He was hit with a hammer or a crow bar on the top of his head.

Somehow he is still alive and in a coma after undergoing operations to remove bone & blood clots from his brain. He is expected to be in a coma for at least 2 weeks, once he is well enough to be moved we’ll get him back to the UK where he can be treated here. He’s never going to be the same again, expected loss of mobility on his right hand side & speech impairment.

The intensive care unit he is in is costing £2000 per day.

He does have medical insurance through his work, but this takes time to sort out in Thailand, and has an upper limit on it, I've also been informed that it will no way cover all of his expenses & it doesn't cover medical repatriation costs - this alone has been quoted at £70,000.

He also used this insurance in September of last year when he had a very bad motor cycle accident & had to have extensive facial rebuilding. He was in a coma then too, sounds unbelievable doesn’t it? That incident cost his parents & friends upwards of £15,000 even with the insurance.

The hospitals over there are unbelievably ruthless, if they don’t have the money on a per day basis, they leave you to die.


So anyway, if I worked in a large company or if I had more time it would be a lot easier to raise some funds, do a charity run or whatever, I don’t I only have you guys.


Those of you that do know Adam know that he is 1 in a million.
I've know him nearly 20 years after meeting him at Hull University & can honestly say he's the best friend anyone could wish for & I will do anything for him.

For those that don't know him, he's the most charismatic man in the Universe.
Originally from Bradford/Keighley/York (he was hard to pin down!) has travelled extensively, teaching English wherever he went & collecting a huge number of life-long friends along the way. This group can testify to that.

When he wasn't in some far flung place across the globe, he settled in Leeds, and worked for a period at The Cathedral School in Wakefield.

Since settling in Thailand 7 years ago, he has become a massively well-respected figure at The Regents' International School, and has worked his way up to Head of English.

Extremely popular there too amongst both students and staff, he regularly takes students on trips & excursions around Thailand & the world, to educate & expand their knowledge. He coaches their football teams including coaching their team in the student World Cup, and when he's got a minute to himself he shows off his incredible guitar skills in his band, often playing charity gigs for local causes.

Whilst he was unconscious & recovering from a horrific motorcycle accident in September of last year, his beautiful son Ben was born.

At the moment Adam & his parents need all the help they can get.

Please add anyone to the group you feel appropriate, anyone that knew Adam or you feel can help.

If you can help directly in any way, either financial or practical advice please email:

donatetoadam@hotmail.com

and either myself or one of the administrators of this site will reply, or you can msg me on Facebook & I'll do my best to reply.

We now have an official charity account set up for Adam, please donate directly to:

UK:

A/C NAME - ADAM PICKLES FUNDRAISING ACCOUNT
S/C 40-13-48
A/C 90049611

IBAN: GB20MIDL40134890049611
BIC CODE: MIDLGB2173S

HSBC Bank plc
23 Market Street
Brighouse
HD6 1AR


Thailand:

Account Name: Pauline Adele Pickles
Bank: Bangkok Bank
Branch: North Pattaya
Account number: 9610093438
(this can be done at an ATM)


International:

make PayPal donations to: donatetoadam@hotmail.com


Thank-you for anything you can do,

Neil & all of Adam's countless friends x