TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The dream vacation of a British tourist in Thailand turned into a nightmare after he fell from a waterfall. The accident not only resulted in severe injuries that required hospitalization, but also left him bankrupt due to a medical bill of 100,000 or around Rp 2.2 billion.
Liam Gibson, a 21-year-old soldier, was on vacation with his girlfriend, Lucy Burnett. On April 12, 2025, they went to explore the beautiful Na Muang 2 Waterfall in Koh Samui, which they found out about from TikTok. Gibson convinced his girlfriend to take a look around. However, shortly after he went to take a photo, he disappeared from sight.
"I screamed for him, then I saw him on the roadside, unconscious. I screamed for help, and a Thai boy helped to reach him," said Burnett, as quoted by Thaiger.
Gibson fell onto rocky ledges several meters below the waterfall, just inches away from a 100-meter-high cliff that had claimed lives before. Gibson suffered broken bones. His skull and thigh bones were shattered.
Burnett recounted that Gibson was bleeding, sometimes losing consciousness. It was horrifying. "I had to hold onto him to prevent him from falling further into the waterfall, with my hands and feet wrapped around him, sitting in his pool of blood. His leg bone was sticking out, you could see his skull. It was truly horrifying," said Burnett.
Bill Reaches Rp 2.2 Billion
Gibson was eventually flown to a local hospital five hours after the fall, where he underwent several operations and blood transfusions, said Burnett. Doctors at the hospital said that Gibson needed reconstructive surgery with specialized doctors in England. The cost to fly him home with medjet, along with doctors and a nurse, resulted in a bill exceeding 100,000 or Rp 2.2 billion.
The soldier is still being treated at a hospital in Thailand. As they have run out of money, the couple has launched a GoFundMe campaign to bring him back to England.
"The bills keep mounting and he can't get the surgery he needs until he gets home. We are absolutely broken," said Burnett.
The incident occurred after the couple had been vacationing in Thailand for a week. Their plan was to spend a month backpacking in the country. However, the two British tourists found themselves stranded there, not knowing how to get home after running out of money.
Gibson is not the first person to become a victim at the waterfall. Last year, an Indian tourist, Sreemany Debjit, died after falling from the waterfall. His body was found wedged between tree branches and rocks at the lowest level of the Na Muang 2 Waterfall. A friend of the victim said that he and Debjit were trekking the footpath to the waterfall's peak. Debjit slipped and fell from the cliff while taking photos, according to Bangkok Post.
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