'He may never recover,' says father of Calgary man hit by car in Taiwan

A Calgary family is struggling to pay medical bills for their son who was hit by a car earlier this month inTaiwan.

John Kelly, who has been teaching English in Taichung for the last three years, was walkinghome from his job when a car plowed into him on the street.

The incident was caught on CCTV footage and Taiwanese police are investigating.

"Threw him over 30 feet," his father, Jack Kelly, told the Calgary Eyeopener.

"He's had surgery, metal plates and pins in his right leg. His collarbone was broken. He's got upper body breaks and they've had to remove a part of his skull to release pressure on his brain."

The 31-year-old, who has a three-year-old daughter, is in stable condition, but is still not responsive. His dad said his injuries could leave him permanently paralyzed and brain injured.

"He may never recover or come out of it. And he hasn't spoken since."

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Medical bills piling up

Kelly says his wife, Shanon, flew over to Taiwan as soon as she learned about her son's accident but can't afford to stay there any longer.

"His mom is over there now and the doctors state they do not want her to leave as they need a family member to be there. Whatever monies we have or had are being depleted rapidly," Kelly said.

The 31-year-old does have health insurance through his Taiwanese employer, but his dad says it hasn't kicked in yet because he was between jobs.

Until that gets sorted out, the family has to foot all the medical bills accumulated so far, which Kelly said is about $25,000 Canadian.

To avoid more bills piling up and to be able to make important medical decisions, the family wants to fly their son back to Canada for treatment.

They've launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $50,000 to pay for his medevac from Taiwan to Foothills hospital in Calgary.