Robert Hughes, 25, made headlines a week ago when his disruptive behaviours forced his Virgin Atlantic flight en route to Heathrow Airport to return to its point of origin, Hong Kong. It turns out that the poor guy was diagnosed with schizophrenia at Princess Margaret Hospital, where he was taken after his plane landed back in Hong Kong, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Hughes, who is from Meyerside, England, is currently a patient at Kwai Chung Psychiatric Hospital and is waiting to hear whether the local authorities will be pressing charges.
The 25-year-old, who’s lived in China for four years, had been teaching English in Hainan when his brother visited him. He found that Hughes was acting strange, so his family decided he should return home.
Hughes’ mother met him in Hong Kong in order to accompany him on his travels to England. An hour and a half into the flight, however, he refused to put on his seatbelt and had to be restrained by cabin crew, forcing the plane to return to Hong Kong.
The brother and the mother are stuck in Hong Kong while Hughes remains in hospital, which is costing the family roughly HKD5,800 a day. His father says that the family has no savings, and that they are considering selling their family home to cover the costs of their son’s medical and legal fees. After the flight incident, he was released on bail for 30 days.
Hughes’ mother and brother also said that they are having problems communicating with hospital doctors. With help from the British Consulate, the family is trying to figure out whether the young man can be released by doctors and allowed by airlines to travel, whether on a commercial flight or with a medical escort.
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Photo: Liverpool Echo
