‘I would sleep there if I could, but I can’t’: Father, 64, is dying in a Turkish hospital after a crash… but his British family is only allowed to see him for 10 minutes a day

The heartbroken daughter of a British father dying in a Turkish hospital rushed back home to be at his bedside but was told she would only see him for ten minutes.

Joanna Kearney, 35, flew into the country last Friday after her father John, 64, was involved in a horrific scooter accident in the resort town of Icmeler.

But when he arrived at the hospital the next day, he was told to stand in line and wait for his father’s name to be called by security before he had to show his passport.

Only then was he allowed to be near John, and he took John’s palm in his gloved hand.

The mother-of-three costs £100 in taxi fare for each two-hour round trip to Muğla to spend a brief moment with her beloved father.

Grandad is currently on a life support machine and Joanna was given the devastating news on Tuesday that his brain damage was so severe there was nothing more doctors could do.

The doting girl was told that even if John woke up, he would likely have severe brain damage.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘I would sleep there if I could but I can’t.’

Joanna has has since started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay for his medical bills After travel insurance told him they wouldn’t cover the costs because he didn’t wear a helmet.

The 64-year-old father of six is ​​currently on life support due to severe brain damage. But doctors say there’s nothing more they can do

Joanna described the chaos at the hospital when she visited on Saturday and said there was ‘no one there to talk to’.

‘Nobody could understand us and when I found out where my father was they were showing us names on pieces of paper that weren’t even my father’s,’ he said.

‘Visiting hours are between 14.00 and 16.00 in the afternoon, but everyone is lining up when you arrive. You are in line and then security will shout out the patient’s name and you will have to show your passport.

‘When I saw him I spoke to him and gave him messages from his wife and family telling him how much we loved him.’

John, a mechanic from Birkenhead, Wirral, was on holiday in Türkiye with friends and his girlfriend Sheila, who is currently ‘a mess’.

He had rented a scooter to get around town, but the rental company didn’t give him a helmet.

It is illegal not to wear protective headgear while riding a motorcycle or moped in Türkiye.

Tragedy struck last Tuesday evening as John was returning to the dock to pick up Sheila after dropping his friend off at her flat.

He was only meters away from turning around when his leg was thought to have struck the trailer of a 4×4, causing him to ‘go flying’ before hitting his head on the ground.

John, who was not believed to be speeding, was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed with a serious brain haemorrhage and fell into a coma. He also has a cut on his leg and a scrape on the side of his face.

However, doctors say they cannot operate because he will die due to swelling.

He is now off his sedation medication but still hasn’t woken up and can’t breathe on his own.

On Friday, Joanna piled her clothes into a 10kg suitcase and boarded the plane with her uncle and John’s brother Phil, only to be told ‘things were not going well’.

Daughter Joanna, 35, flew into the country last Friday. He came to the hospital the next day but was only allowed to see her for five minutes.

Joanna described her father as a ‘very happy, cheeky, nutty’ guy who would do anything for anyone.

Learning that their grandfather was in serious condition, his three children, aged 9, 14 and 16, flew to Türkiye with their families yesterday.

Joanna said she was heartbroken and devastated when paramedics told her they would turn off her father’s life support machine within a week.

‘They told me they thought my father would never wake up,’ he said.

‘They said you wouldn’t make it or you wouldn’t wake up. They stopped the sedatives and medications, but he still couldn’t come around on his own. The machine basically keeps it going.

‘There is very little blood flow to his brain.’

Joanna said her father’s diagnosis left her ‘absolutely speechless’.

He said: ‘I knew it was bad but I kept at it thinking it would get better.

‘I had a breakdown because everything was too much. I was trying to talk to the hospital but it was a nightmare.

‘Today (Tuesday) was the only day I spoke and I was told my father would not live. ‘I’m anxious, stressed and scared.’

Joanna described her father as a ‘very happy, sassy, ​​nutty’ guy who would do anything for anyone.

‘Everyone loves him,’ he said. ‘He was always there for me when I needed him. My kids kept asking when I would come home. But I really don’t know, so I was feeling stressed in that aspect.

‘I feel like I need to go home, but I can’t go home because I know my dad needs me more than ever.’

John had ‘top level insurance’ but the family cannot claim this insurance because he does not wear a helmet.

Joanna blames the rental company for not providing her father with safety equipment, but says she has seen ‘lots of people’ riding motorbikes without safety equipment in Türkiye.

‘When I see that not everyone wears it, I can understand why they don’t make a fuss about it,’ he said.

On the fundraising page, Joanna said doctors agreed to keep her father on life support for another week.

‘We’re all still trying to process everything. Very difficult. “Even though the truth is really heavy right now, we’re holding on to hope,” he wrote.