Campaign by Story
Help Lia’s Wings bring baby Matthew home
A little boy is thousands of miles from home, critically ill in hospital in Hong Kong. We are doing everything we can to bring him back to the UK, but we need your help.
Nine-month-old Matthew travelled to Hong Kong with his mum, Sophia, and grandmother for what should have been a happy family holiday, meeting relatives for the first time.
But everything changed when Matthew became seriously ill with influenza A. His condition deteriorated rapidly, resulting in three devastating cardiac arrests. Tragically, his brain was without oxygen for 47 minutes.
Now, having spent his first birthday in hospital, Matthew remains critically ill, thousands of miles away from his dad and the rest of his family in Nottinghamshire.
His family desperately wants him home, where he can be reunited with his loved ones and brought back to the NHS care he needs.
Sophia, Matthew's mum, said:
“We are completely overwhelmed by the kindness and support people have shown us. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has shared Matthew’s story, reached out and offered to help.
We are desperate to get our little boy home. Being by Matthew’s bedside is the only place I feel I should be right now, and although every day is frightening and uncertain, being with him is what keeps me going.”
However, getting Matthew home is not as simple as booking a flight.
Why Matthew needs our help
Lia’s Wings, the only UK air ambulance charity that delivers life-saving services both in the UK and internationally, is working alongside Matthew’s family and medical teams in Hong Kong and the UK to find a safe way to bring him home. We have explored every possible option, including commercial airlines. Sadly, because Matthew is ventilated and his medical needs are so complex, commercial airline options are limited and we are yet to find an airline to accept him.
A private aircraft flight is the most medically appropriate option.
The cost of a long-haul medical transfer from Hong Kong could reach £200,000 – an enormous sum beyond the means of Matthew’s family and our small charity.
We are urgently appealing to the aviation industry, private aircraft owners and operators to help us secure a donated flight from Hong Kong back to the UK. We have received some positive enquiries following our appeal and are working hard to find a solution.
How your donation will help
Bringing Matthew home requires more than an aircraft. It takes specialist medical expertise, complex planning and carefully selected equipment to make the journey as safe as possible.
Our team is ready to mobilise, including two consultants and a specialist paediatric nurse, alongside the medical equipment needed to prepare an aircraft for this long-haul transfer.
Your donation will help Lia’s Wings plan, coordinate and facilitate Matthew’s journey home, contributing towards the overall transfer and our end goal of Matthew coming home.
Help us bring Matthew home
Bringing Matthew back to the UK would mean so much to his family. It would give him the opportunity to be reunited with his dad, and to access the ongoing specialist care he needs closer to home.
We are doing everything within our power to make this happen. . However, the clock is ticking, and our window of opportunity to find a solution for Matthew is ever getting smaller. We are continuing to work tirelessly with the aviation community to find a donated aircraft or a financially viable solution that will allow Matthew to make this journey safely.
If, for any reason, Matthew's transfer cannot go ahead, all funds raised will be used by Lia's Wings to help other seriously ill children and their families who need urgent medical air transfers. Your generosity will still make an incredible difference to families facing their own medical emergencies.
Matthew’s Mum says:
“We would never normally ask for help like this. It is a situation we could never have imagined finding ourselves in, and we simply cannot make this happen on our own.
“Our only hope is to get Matthew back to the UK, where he belongs, so he can be reunited with his dad and receive the ongoing specialist care he needs.
“We are just a family who went away on holiday with our healthy little boy, and we desperately want to bring him home. We cannot thank everyone enough for standing with us and helping us fight to make that happen.”
Please donate if you can, share Matthew's story and help us reach the people who could make this journey possible.
Thank you for supporting Matthew and his family during this unimaginably difficult time.
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For all media enquiries, including requests for interviews, images, or further details, please contact Rebecca Wilson at rebecca@lias-wings.org.uk.