Tribute to Thai crash victim Ryan (From Thurrock Gazette)

Tribute to Thai crash victim Ryan

3:00pm Thursday 10th January 2013 in News

A MOTHER has paid tribute to her son who was “always planning a new adventure” ahead of the inquest into his death.

Ryan Marven was seriously injured in a minibus accident in Thailand’s Koh Samui in August 2011 after the driver went round a bend too fast and lost control.

Ryan, who was 30 at the time, fractured his skull and slipped into a coma.

While the father-of-two lay in a Thai hospital, his family and friends in Stanford-le-Hope frantically raised the £30,000 needed to fly him back to England.

They reached their target at the end of November and a medical crew from Queen’s Hospital in Romford flew from Thailand back to the UK with Ryan, but he sadly died on January 25 last year.

Ryan’s mum Karen Hatch, 52, of Monks Haven, said the former Gable Hall pupil was “full of life”.

She said: “Ryan was a very cheerful character, always smiling, always planning a new adventure.

“He was living life to the full and had so many plans for the future.

“Nothing was so serious in life that Ryan felt the need to moan or whinge about it.”

Once he was flown home, Ryan spent a few weeks at Queen’s Hospital undergoing tests which he did not respond to, and doctors then told his parents he wasn’t going to recover.

On the advice of doctors, they took the decision to stop Ryan’s treatment and he was transferred to Basildon Hospital so the family could be with him night and day during his final weeks.

Karen said: “It was really hard, but Ryan had never regained consciousness after the accident.

“It was a comfort we had at least got him home.

“The hospital was fantastic, we were there for two weeks and the staff were absolutely brilliant.”

More than 100 people turned up to Ryan’s funeral in February.

Karen added: “It was a lovely day. Ryan touched everyone’s hearts – once you knew him, you loved him.”

The inquest was due to be heard at Chelmsford’s Civic Centre on Wednesday.