A fun-loving sunseeker is battling for her life in a Greek hospital bed after being hit by a speedboat.
Holly Ann Schofield, from Brighton, suffered serious injuries when she was struck by a speedboat while swimming in Rhodes.
This weekend, she has been flown by military helicopter to a hospital in Athens where she remains in a medically-induced coma.
Her Hove-based family have launched a campaignto raise £35,000 topayfor life-saving surgery that the 49-year-old urgently needs.
Her niece Charlotte Maybank and sister Joanna Schofield, who have nowflown out to be at her bedside, received the bad news in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
They learned that on Tuesday afternoon Miss Schofield was hit by a speedboat that was ferrying people from the beach to a nearby yacht.
It is understood that the driver of the speedboat took her to shore where she lost consciousness before being placed in a medically induced coma.
The impact of the collision fractured her ribs, pelvis and spine, punctured her lung and caused an aneurism in her aorta which requires life-saving heart surgery.
Miss Maybank, from Blatchington Road in Hove, has launched a Facebook page with the help of her brother Jack to try and get funding for the treatment.
She said: “We have raised more than £1,200 in just a day, I didn’t realise people could be so generous.
We have received money from people who didn’t even know her.
“We didn’t understand the level of injuries shehadsuffered initially because no one at the hospital spoke English but then we started finding out more and more from her friendswho started visiting her.
“It’s been difficult for all of us, but even worse for my nan who is not fit enough to travel and is absolutely tearing her hair out.”
She added: “Holly is really loud, she has the most infectious laugh and she’s very eccentric.
“She absolutely loved living in her studio flat in Rhodes, especially now it is summertime.”
This vital surgery Miss Schofield needs is not covered by medical insurance.
Brighton-born Miss Schofield, a formerBurgess Hill School for Girls pupil, left the city to live in Rhodes 18 months ago where she works as a masseuse.
To help visit facebook.com/helpforholly.
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