Mr Schofield, who arrived in August to teach at Kajonkiet International School, was left seriously injured after a motorbike crash earlier this month.
The 34-year-old was left in a coma with a broken jaw, two broken arms, broken collarbone and a shattered eye socket, plus brain trauma and other injuries. Doctors removed a part of his skull to relieve pressure from brain swelling.
Mr Schofield’s wife Rachel has now arrived in Phuket along with Mr Schofield’s parents. His insurance isn’t covering his medical bills, so family established a fundraising drive. By this morning (September 18), more than C$48,000, around B1.4million, has been donated.
Family said on Tuesday (September 17) said, “The prospect of full cognitive recovery seems very promising. Mark is meeting the initial landmarks.
There are still a number of concerns, but the general feeling about Mark’s recovery is very positive. Right now the prospect of pneumonia is most pressing. He has a lot of congestion in his chest, so they are considering a temporary tracheotomy to reduce chance of infection through the breathing tube.
“The ward he was transferred into from ICU is not ideal, but they are keeping a close eye on him. It may not be too long before he can be transferred to a private hospital. There are conflicting recommendations as to when Mark will be stable enough to fly home (4-8 weeks).
“There is no advantage of bringing him home right away due to potential risks involved during the flight itself, but we have had good support from our government to help get everything in place for when Mark is able to travel.”
Late last week Mr Schofield’s brother Scott said in a statement, “Mark was under the impression that he had medical coverage from his employers at the international school [where he taught].
“We do not know the details, other than the school sent an email to my parents the day after the accident making it clear that they would not be able to cover costs related to the accident.
“Mark was not given notice about a trial period without coverage, otherwise we would have acquired private insurance from home over the interim.”
A spokesperson at Kajonkiet told The Phuket News that the school “provides all staff with both, accident and health insurance policies, neither of which have any ‘trial period’ without coverage”.
“Unfortunately, the insurance companies will not assist to cover Mark’s medical bills due to information contained within the medical reports submitted to them by staff at Vachira Hospital, which is most unfortunate.
“We are currently organising a fund raiser to assist with the medical expenses,” the spokesperson said.