A British father who was battling coronavirus for the second time became paralysed and blind after being bitten by a deadly snake.
Former healthcare worker Ian Jones, who now runs Sabirian, a charity-backed social enterprise importing fairly traded crafts from India, was left in intensive care after he suffered the poisonous bite from an Indian Black King Cobra in the village where he was based.
Ian was, at the time, already battling a second bout of COVID-19 when the snake bite took matters to a whole new level of severity.
Isle of Wight man with Coronvirus fighting for his life after deadly King Cobra bite…
The appeal raised over £21k and generated over 100’s of media articles including coverage across the nationals including, The Telegraph, The Mail, The Mirror, Metro and the Sun.
PA put the story out on the news wires and this generated over 800 articles. Sky News and ITV also covered the campaign.
Ian was eventually reunited with his family in the UK and continues to receive treatment.
Update
Even though Ian is now permanently blind and only has partial mobility, he has made the courageous decision to return to India to continue his work with social enterprise Sabirian and the people he is so passionate about supporting.
Feedback
“Hi Jane. You’re amazing, thank you SO much..
We are delighted to report that after a long and stressful journey home, Ian is finally back in the UK with his family. Ian still has paralysis in his legs and is completely blind and he is having to adjust to these new found circumstances which is proving both emotional and challenging.
The charity, Ian and his family have been completely overwhelmed by the support and generosity that people have shown towards his situation and would like to reiterate their upmost thanks to everyone concerned. The donations will help to pay for the medical bills already accumulated and the costs of getting Ian back to the UK.”
