Jaffa man seriously hurt in Thailand motorcycle accident

Ilan Axelrod was riding a motorcycle in a resort town near Bangkok when he was cut off by another motorcyclist.

By MELANIE LIDMAN
A 26-year-old Jaffa resident was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in Thailand on Sunday afternoon, and is currently fighting for his life.
Ilan Axelrod was riding a motorcycle in a resort town near Bangkok when he was cut off by another motorcyclist, causing him to lose control and fly off his cycle, hitting his head on the wall.
“Luckily he was wearing a helmet, but it didn’t really do anything,” said his friend, Yuri Riabov, 31, who witnessed the accident.
The ambulance came quickly and Axelrod was brought to a private hospital with serious injuries. He is unconscious and on a respirator after undergoing brain surgery last night that lasted for six hours. Thai doctors are giving him a 20 percent chance of survival.
“It’s really hard to see him lying on the bed like this,” said Riabov. “I thought it’d be a few months, and then he’d be OK, but now they’re saying that even if he does come back he’ll never return to normal life.”
Axelrod was in the middle of a six-month trip to Thailand with four friends from home.
Axelrod’s mother is dead and he is not in close contact with his father, though the Israeli Embassy in Thailand was able to get in touch with his brother in Israel.
“His brother was crying on the phone; he wants to see him in Israel,” Riabov said. “This is never easy, but when it happens on the other side of the world, it’s so much harder.”
The Israeli Embassy has also worked to get doctors from Hadassah-University Hospital at Ein Kerem to advise the Thai doctors on Axelrod’s treatment.
“I really want to say a big thank you to the embassy; they’ve really helped us,” Riabov said.
“They were on the phone at 2:30 a.m. with the hospital, and they’re always in touch with us.”
Axelrod’s friends are also worried about paying his hospital bill, which has reached NIS 37,000.