A British tourist who survived a 7-metre fall onto his head from a hotel balcony in Koh Tao has flown home with a quarter of his skull in his hand luggage.
Lee Charie survived a 7-metre fall from a hotel balcony in Koh Tao. (Photo: SWNS.com/Mail Online)
Hotel staff found Lee Charie, 32, unconscious on the ground in December last year. He was taken to a local clinic then a hospital on nearby Koh Samui, where he was resuscitated after two days without showing any sign of life.
Doctors removed a quarter of his skull to give his brain space to recover from the fall.
Mr Charie flew home to Britain two weeks later with the missing part of his skull in a box. He was accompanied by a Thai doctor who helped take care of him during the flight.
Mr Charie can walk and talk again.
Surgeons in Britain plan to use the missing chunk of his skull as a mould to design a titanium plate which will cover the gap in his head.
"I can't remember falling - I don't even know if I fell,” Mr Charie told the Telegraph in a video interview.
"My dad came over to Thailand and after two days I remember my head sinking into this dip which was where my skull was missing and I could not believe it.
"It got me in tears thinking about what had happened. They had removed it weeks before. The skull was one of the first things to be taken out because it was all crushed up and just needed to be.
"I was on so many different drugs then I did not realise they had removed it. I was confused and thought I was just on holiday having a good time.
"I only realised a few weeks later when I met my dad that I had this dip. It was a big shock.
"I do not really want to think about it to be honest. Since I have been in hospital I have had about eight injections in each arm that I can remember and I can't stand for it.
Mr Charie fell seven metres from a second floor walkway at the Tommy Resort in Koh Tao, smashing the side of his skull.
It is unknown whether he slipped off the balcony or was pushed.