Bid to bring Scots cancer patient 'stranded' on Indian Ocean island home
- Published
Jon Paul (left) and his partner Craig went on holiday after he completed intensive chemotherapy treatment
Friends of a seriously ill Scottish man stranded on an island in the Indian Ocean are raising money to fund an air ambulance to bring him home.
Jon Paul McAllister, from Rutherglen, was diagnosed with bowel cancer earlier this year.
After treatment and being "given the all clear" he travelled on a "holiday of a lifetime" with his fiancé.
But he is now in hospital in Reunion Island unable to return to Scotland.
The 38-year-old social worker told BBC Scotland he is "desperate" to get home so that there can be a "proper investigation" of what is wrong with him.
The holiday to South Africa, Madagascar and the Seychelles with his partner Craig Park was to celebrate the end of his treatment.
However, shortly after arriving on holiday, he became extremely unwell and spent two weeks in what the couple described as an "unsanitary medical facility" in Nosey Be in Madagascar.
Mr McAllister said it was "vile, filthy and insect-infested".
Mr McAllister says he is "desperate" to get back home to Scotland
He was later transferred by air ambulance to Reunion but scans showed the cancer had returned and he was not medically fit to fly home in a commercial airline.
Friends back in Scotland have started a crowdfunding effort to cover the costs of his treatment and an air ambulance back to Scotland, which they say Mr McAllister's insurance company will not pay out for.
By Sunday evening, their JustGiving page, external had attracted more than £14,000 of donations, with a target of £35,000.
His fiancé Mr Park told BBC Scotland: "We have no idea what's wrong with Jon Paul. At first they said it was an infection, now the medics are saying it might be kidney related or another tumour. It's really important to get a final answer.
"At moment I'm feeling really scared. All my focus is to get Jon Paul home.
"It's been a massive shock for him and he's really scared too, just desperate to get home."