A NORTH-EAST mum, who decided to 'live life to the full' after the tragic death of her son, was last night lying critically ill in a foreign hospital after being struck down while on a holiday-of-a-lifetime to Thailand.
Jen Clayton was left in a coma, and is thought to have suffered substantial brain damage, after being struck down by a mystery illness eight days into a dream three-week trip to Asia.
Mrs Clayton and her husband Darren decided booked the trip after enduring a terrible year after her son, Alan Kalandra, died following an epileptic fit aged just 31.
The popular pair had promised to 'live life to the full' and booked the trip as a break from working at their pub in Spennymoor, County Durham.
But now Mrs Clayton's three other sons Kevin Kalandra and Scott and Tyler Clayton will fly out on Thursday to be with their mum after she became seriously ill.
Mr Kalandra, 34, said: “We’re dropping everything and just going, there is so much to do before then but it cannot come soon enough as we just want to see her and be there for them both.”
Mrs Clayton was staying in a luxury hotel in Pattaya when she began to complain of a sore throat last Sunday, August 7 and was prescribed antibiotics for suspected tonsilitis.
But the following morning the 54-year-old felt much worse and Mr Clayton, who works at Thorn lighting in Spennymoor, called an ambulance which took her to Pattaya hospital.
While in hospital she collapsed, suffered two seizures and her heart stopped, starving her brain of oxygen for almost 11 minutes. She was given CPR and transferred to an intensive care unit in Bangkok where she was placed in a medically induced coma.
Doctors now believe her condition could be the result of an allergic reaction to something she ate.
Mr Kalandra said: “We’ve been told she has suffered substantial brain damage and will need a stent in the heart, they are starting to reduce the sedation and it is a waiting game.
“She’s in a stable but critical condition which our family knows all too well about, we’ve had to spend far too much time in hospital.”
Mr and Mrs Clayton booked the luxury holiday with two other couples after deciding to live life to the full after enduring an horrific year.
Her son Alan Kalandra died following an epileptic fit last April.
He had developed the neurological condition after a car hit him and a group of boys, all aged 13, as they waited to cross the road in Spennymoor after a five-a-side football match.
Alan was one of three boys badly hurt in the 1997 collision and his friend, Michael McAnaney, was killed.
Mr Kalandra said: “Thailand is somewhere they wanted to go. They’d said to themselves ‘let’s start living life and do it in style with two weeks of luxury in Pattaya and a week in Bangkok because you just don’t know what’s in store’.”
People in Spennymoor and regulars at the Ash Tree pub, which Mrs Clayton has ran for almost three years, have helped raise £3,500 so mechanic Kevin, factory worker Scott and 16-year-old Tyler can make the urgent trip.
Mr Kalandra added: “We’re breaking our own necks to get there as soon as we can, my wife Barbara is an accountant but is stepping in to run the pub.
“We’ve cancelled our family holiday to Belgium with our boys Oliver and James. Olly and I are big motorsport fans so were looking forward to watching the Grand Prix and he doesn’t really understand why we’ve had to cancel.
“I’m worried about how Tyler will react, he was just a baby when Alan was knocked over so hasn’t been through anything like this before and should be picking up his exam results at Whitworth Park School instead of flying to be with mum.
“It is unbelievably humbling the amount of people who have offered to help, wished us well and made big donations, people have pulled together and shown there is a real sense of community here which we appreciate.”
Mr Kalandra has set up a fundraising page online at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/kevin-kalandra
Share