THE FAMILY of an Irish man who was severely injured after being hit by a car while holidaying in Portugal are now desperately trying to bring him hime.
Paul Byrne, from Blanchardstown, was accidentally clipped by a taxi while crossing the road, hitting his head badly on the concrete as he fell.
His son Ciaran, who flew out to Portugal to be with his father, says that the 66-year-old doesn't remember anything and has even lost all memory of his wife and children.
The family have launched a GoFundMe page to try and raise enough funds to bring Paul back to Ireland.
Speaking to Dublin Live, Ciaran said: "He was crossing the road to get into a taxi that was pulled in and that his friends were already in.
"Another taxi was driving by on the road at the same time and my dad waited for him to pass before crossing. The driver of his taxi put out his hand and beckoned dad to get in from the other side.
"But, the taxi that was driving thought the driver was putting his hand out to hail him down. He reversed back slowly and accidentally clipped my dad on the hip which knocked him over and he hit his head off the road."
Ciaran and his family flew out to Portugal as soon as they heard about the accident, and were told by doctors that Paul's health didn't look good.
"He was in intensive care, he had bleeds on his brain and then he was hit with a bout of pneumonia. He eventually regained unconsciousness but doctors said he would probably never talk again.
"The bleeds on the brain are going down but his memory isn't getting much better and I don't think it will unless we get him home."
Ciaran says that his dad wouldn't have wanted the news of his injury to go public, but insists that he and his family have been left with no choice because they need to raise money in order to get him home.
"We didn't want it to become public news because my dad would be a very private person and wouldn't want people knowing his business. But it's got to the stage now where we need to raise funds to bring him home immediately before it's too late."
If you'd like to donate to the GoFundMe page, click here.
