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An Australian man is fighting for his life in hospital after he was beaten with a steel bar and stabbed multiple times by two armed intruders in Greece.
Charlie Kathopoulis, 43, who is from Darwin in the Northern Territory, was in Rhodes finishing his national service for the Greek military and assisting with the settlement of his late father’s estate when he was viciously attacked by the two thugs in late May.
He suffered ‘horrific injuries’ including ‘major head trauma, skull fractures, an explosive fracture to the jaw, a critically damaged windpipe, a broken collarbone and punctured lungs’.
He has been in the ICU ward of Rhodes General Hospital for more than two months as family members desperately raise funds to medivac him back to Australia.
The 43-year-old was beaten over the head with a steel bar and stabbed in the chest and throat multiple times by two men who broke into his residence
Charlie’s sister Michelle, 45, said that two intruders, who she referred to as ‘beggars’, broke into his residence on the night of May 30.
They beat him in the head with the weapon and knifed him multiple times in the throat and chest while he was in his bedroom.
She claimed the intruders were high on drugs and attempting to steal items outside the home when her brother told them to leave.
‘There was a blood trail to his bedroom and the bed and pillows are completely sodden in blood. This is where Charlie’s phone was,’ his sister told News.com.au.
‘He called the neighbour to call the police. The ambulance arrived and paramedics applied pressure to the stab wounds to the neck to reduce the amount of blood loss. We were told that this saved his life.’
Mr Kathopoulis was rushed to the emergency emergency department and was ‘non-responsive’ upon arrival.
He had immediate surgery for his head injuries and was placed in a medically induced coma for 35 days.
Charlie Kathopoulis (pictured second from left with his sisters) has been in hospital for more than two months after he sustained ‘horrific injuries’ during a brutal attack by two men in Greece
Ms Kathopoulis said doctors ‘performed a tracheostomy through a stab wound’ to her brother’s throat and that the medical staff were still figuring out how damaged his brain, vocal cords and windpipe were.
She added that the two men who beat and stabbed her brother have been arrested and will likely be charged with attempted murder.
Ms Kathopoulis, with her sisters Jacqui, Maria and mother Denise, flew to Rhodes almost immediately after they heard about the attack.
They jetted over in early June and have been by Mr Kathopoulis’ side ever since.
Ms Kathopoulis said the recovery process has been ‘long’ and that since early August her brother has been awake, responsive and able to ‘breathe on his own, with oxygen support’.
He is unable to talk because of the tracheostomy and tubes in his windpipe and communicates with his family by moving his eyes or squeezing their hands.
The family are now looking to medivac Charlie home to Australia after they were informed by the Rhodes General Hospital that doctors were unable to do anything further for Mr Kathopoulis and that he’d be moved from ICU to the general ward.
The Kathopoulis family (pictured) almost immediately flew to Greece after hearing the news about Chris (left) and have been by his side in hospital since. They are now raising money to medivac him to Australia, which is estimated to cost between $300,000 to $400,000
Ms Kathopoulis explained that the family have now resorted to getting quotes to medivac her brother back home to Australia after futile attempts to contact ‘local and federal members of parliament’ and ‘ongoing dialogue with the Australian embassy’.
She has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to raise the estimated $300,000 to $400,000 she has been given to get Mr Kathopoulis to Australia for treatment.
‘We believe that by bringing him home to Australia he will be looked after, and we can begin the long process of surgeries and rehabilitation that he so urgently needs to heal,’ she wrote.
‘We understand how very tough things are for everyone right now, and it is only in this deeply humbled and desperate state we find ourselves, that we ask you with the utmost respect, to give even the smallest amount if you are able.’
The Kathopoulis family have raised more than $70,000 so far.
You can donate to the fundraiser here.