A UK tourist, Liam Gibson, suffers life-changing injuries after falling at the dangerous Na Muang Waterfall 2 in Thailand. His family is raising funds for costly medical bills and repatriation while calling for urgent safety measures at the site.
A UK-based friends and family campaign is now underway to raise funds for yet another foreign tourist seriously injured in Thailand. This time, it is 21-year-old Liam Gibson, a young British soldier who narrowly survived a near-fatal fall at the notorious Na Muang Waterfall 2 on Ko Samui. Previously, the site has claimed the lives of at least four tourists between 2019 and 2023. Liam was lucky to survive—thanks in large part to the swift actions of his courageous girlfriend, Lucy, who helped keep him alive until rescue teams arrived.
Despite surviving the fall, Liam suffered devastating injuries, including a crushed leg. He now faces mounting medical bills after weeks in a Thai hospital. His family is urgently seeking to bring him back to the UK, where he can receive further treatment—particularly critical surgery on his femur.
However, arranging a medical evacuation flight is costly and complex. The family’s efforts continue as they race to raise the funds needed to get Liam home.
The young British soldier is still recovering in a Thai hospital.
Soldier slips at waterfall while sightseeing on Ko Samui after social media post draws couple to site
Liam Gibson, 21, serves with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). He had been sightseeing with his girlfriend, Lucy, on 12 April when tragedy struck. The couple were visiting Na Muang Waterfall 2, a well-known tourist site on the island of Ko Samui.
They had discovered the location online. “There’s a lot of advertising, especially on social media, making it look like a fun day out,” Lucy said. However, the trip turned disastrous when Liam lost his footing on a smooth rock surface while innocently trying to take a photo.
His feet suddenly slipped beneath him. He began sliding quickly down the rock face, unable to stop. “It was just completely smooth. There was nothing to hold onto,” Lucy recalled. “He kept picking up speed. Then he went straight over the edge.”
Miraculously, Liam did not fall to the bottom. Instead, he landed hard on a rock ledge halfway down the cliff. According to Lucy, that rock likely saved his life. “If he’d fallen all the way, he would’ve died on the spot,” she said.
With multiple fractures and heavy blood loss, Liam lay trapped for two hours awaiting a mountain rescue
But the impact was catastrophic. Liam was knocked unconscious. Blood poured from multiple wounds. His skull and face were badly fractured, and his leg was crushed. “He was bleeding out fast,” Lucy said. “I thought I was going to lose him.”
Although help was called immediately, it took two agonising hours for rescue workers to arrive. During that time, Lucy fought to keep Liam alive. “He kept drifting in and out of consciousness,” she said. “We had to use anything we had to tie off his wounds. He just kept saying, ‘I’m going to die. How long are they going to be?’”
Eventually, a local man helped summon a rescue team. Even then, it took another three hours to get Liam to hospital. In total, five hours passed before he reached an operating table. “It was the most traumatising thing I’ve ever gone through,” Lucy said. “When we finally arrived at the hospital, the chaos was overwhelming.”
Earlier this month, speaking with The Mirror newspaper in the United Kingdom, she described herself as ‘drained’ from the experience—particularly after she was presented in short order with the hospital bill.
Family faces shock hospital costs as soldier undergoes surgery and blood transfusions for severe trauma
To her shock, Lucy was asked for immediate payment using a card machine. “It was the last thing we needed at that moment,” she said. Nevertheless, she praised the hospital staff for their professionalism and care. “They’ve been absolutely amazing. I can’t fault them at all.”
Liam was rushed into emergency surgery. Doctors worked on his skull, face, and internal injuries. He has since undergone three major operations, received multiple blood transfusions, and is being treated with a range of antibiotics and pain medication.
His injuries are extensive. In addition to a shattered femur in three places, he suffered a broken arm, a shattered left hand, and fractures to his eye socket, cheekbone, nose, and skull.
Despite the trauma, Liam is slowly improving. “Physically, he’s getting better each day,” Lucy said. “But his leg still needs major surgery. That has to be done back in the UK.”
Two days after the accident, Liam’s mother and grandmother flew out to Thailand. They have remained by his side ever since. However, flying Liam home is no simple task. Due to the severity of his condition, he needs to be transported by a medical evacuation jet.
Fundraising campaign launched to cover costs of air ambulance and urgent repatriation for wounded soldier
The flight must include doctors and nurses on board throughout. As a result, costs are extremely high. Liam’s family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise the necessary funds. Although reluctant at first, Lucy said asking for public support became unavoidable.
“This was a last resort,” she said. “We didn’t want to ask people for help, but we have no choice. Every day he’s in hospital, the bills rise. And we still need to get him home safely.”
Liam’s GoFundMe page outlines the full extent of his injuries and the treatments he’s received so far. The cost of continuing care and arranging a medical jet has already reached thousands of pounds. His family is now racing against time to raise the full amount.
Meanwhile, Lucy is calling for urgent changes to safety measures at the Na Muang Waterfall 2 site. “There’s no warning about how dangerous it is,” she said. “It should either be shut down or fitted with proper barriers and signs. Something needs to be done before someone else dies.”
Social media glamorises deadly site where tourists risk their lives at waterfall with no warning signs or rails
The area remains popular with tourists and influencers who share pictures of the falls online. But Lucy believes those images are misleading. “We were drawn there by what we saw on Instagram. It looked fun, not deadly. People need to be warned.”
Liam’s fall has highlighted concerns about safety standards at remote tourist destinations in Thailand. Although picturesque, many such sites are difficult to access in emergencies. Furthermore, delays in medical care can worsen injuries, as in Liam’s case.
The British Embassy in Thailand is believed to be in contact with Liam’s family. The Ministry of Defence has yet to issue a statement.
Despite everything, Lucy says Liam is determined to fight on. “He’s strong,” she said. “But he’s been through so much already. We just want him home where he can get the surgery and care he really needs.”
Family clings to hope as they seek urgent donations to get Liam home before hospital bills overwhelm them
With support growing for the GoFundMe appeal, his family hopes Liam can be flown back to the UK in the coming weeks. Until then, he remains in a hospital bed thousands of miles from home—recovering, slowly, from a holiday that changed his life.
“He nearly died taking a photo,” Lucy said. “We thought we were going to lose him. Now we’re just doing everything we can to get him home.”
Significantly, this is not the first accident at the Ko Samui waterfall. Indeed, there have been quite a few, including at least four recorded deaths between 2019 and 2023.
4th foreign tourist dies at deadly Samui Waterfall as mangled body of a French man is found
Brit leaves hospital in Phuket. Family confronted with £10k a day hospital bill to treat him after crash
Go Fund Me for Liam – Soldier stuck in Thailand after life-changing accident
The most recent was the death of 20-year-old French tourist Meghan Ryan on 2 December 2023. Before that, the waterfall claimed the life of 23-year-old Romanian visitor Nane-Iosana Bodea in May 2022.
Previously, on Saturday 27 July 2019, 26-year-old Spanish tourist David Rocamundi Conesa from Barcelona fell to his death at the same location. Just four months later, on 15 November 2019, 30-year-old French tourist Bastien Palmier also died on the same unforgiving rocks.
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Further reading:
New Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system coming soon with a ฿300 tourist levy and insurance
Tragic death of a Taiwanese tourist is another wake-up call for the government on insurance cover
66-year-old Thai woman highlights Thailand’s official tiered pricing in hospitals for foreigners
Negative reaction and horror at Thailand’s plan to charge foreigners more than locals at hotels
