FRIENDS of a Cheltenham man have launched a desperate campaign to bring him home from Turkey after a horrific holiday crash.
Anthony Davis, from Rowanfield, was one of eight ex-Pittville School pupils who were in a minibus which came off the road and plunged down a steep embankment between Dalaman Airport and the coastal resort of Kalkan.
The group had been heading to a villa they had hired for a holiday reunion when the accident took place en route from the airport – just hours after they arrived in the country.
Whilst all the passengers in the vehicle suffered nasty injuries – including several broken bones – seven of the eight have now returned to the UK.
Anthony, 31, a father-of-one, remains stranded in Turkey however, after he was deemed unfit to take a commercial flight due to a collapsed lung and broken ribs.
Friends are trying to negotiate with his insurance company to fund an air ambulance to bring him back to the UK – but talks have so far proved unsuccessful.
Althea Haygarth, Anthony's sister-in-law, said: "We just want to get him home.
"He is out there on his own. He's got nasty injuries, is in a lot of pain and does not speak the language.
"He needs to be back here with his family where he can receive the right treatment."
Anthony's girlfriend Shellie Whitehead, who was also in the minibus, has been flown home to be treated at Bristol's Frenchay Hospital for a fractured pelvis and damaged spine.
Rachel Flaxman, from Redmarley Road in Oakley, was one of the luckier ones, escaping with cuts and bruises.
"Anthony should be back home so he can be at Shellie's side," said the 32-year-old.
"That's where he needs to be and we will do whatever we can to make that happen."
Speaking of the accident itself, Rachel added that her recollections were hazy.
"It was a really traumatic experience," she said.
"We were on our way from the airport to the villa we had rented.
"It all happened so quickly. Suddenly we were falling down an embankment.
"It was a complete shock. We had to try to get each other out but nearly everyone was nursing injuries.It was a horrible scene really. But it could have been much worse.
" It should have been brilliant getting everyone together again but the whole thing was a bit of a nightmare."
Turkish police have released a report of the accident, which took place in the early hours of September 29. Investigations into the cause of the accident are understood to be ongoing.
Anthony, who runs a heating and plumbing firm, has been discharged from hospital and is being put up at a hotel while he negotiates a route home.
