A BLAENAU Ffestiniog man who fell ill whilst on holiday in Thailand has flown home following a campaign by friends and family.

53-year-old Ifor Glyn, who now lives in Swansea, fell ill with pneumonia whilst on holiday in Thailand on 4 January, and since then his family has been fighting with Mr Glyn’s insurance company to get him flown home.

His family, who have been at his bedside for a month and in a bid to get him to return to a UK hospital, they set up the fundraising campign Bring Ifor Home, which had raised nearly £10,000.

But late last week, Mr Glyn’s insurance company agreed to pay for the flights and on Saturday Mr Glyn was flown from Bangkok to London.

He has since been transferred to Ysbyty Gwynedd where he is in a stable condition.

Friend Gwilym Roberts, who set up the gofundme page, said: “Our hope now is that in time Ifor will make a full recovery from his illness and that Glen, Karen and Chum (Ifor’s family) will get over the nightmare that they’ve been through over the last few weeks.

“I have spoken to both Glen and Chum this morning and they are convinced that without the efforts of this fund and the ensuing press attention they would still be in Bangkok!

“The insurance company could have done what they did yesterday 3-4 weeks ago, but they chose not to.

“The family cannot thank you enough for your kindness and generosity. They have had to meet costs in the region of £5,000 between flights, travel and hotel bills over the 5-6 week period that Ifor was in hospital in Thailand.

“However, given that the main aim of this fund was to pay for an Air Ambulance to fly Ifor home, the family are adamant that all donations on this page should be refunded.

“As the founder of the fund, I agree with their wishes, and in accordance with Go Fund Me policy you should receive a refund within 5-10 business days so the money you donated should be back in the account from where it came by the end of the week after this at the very latest.

“I would like to thank you all sincerely for your kindness towards Ifor and his family.

“I have known the family for over 40 years and I am glad that we’ve all been able to help bring their nightmare over the last few weeks to an end. We did bring Ifor (and them) home and I’m sure I speak for us all in wishing him a full recovery from his illness over the coming days and weeks - get well soon Ifor.”

Insurers Emergency Assistance Facilities have been asked to comment.