IN AN incredible show of support, more than £3,500 was raised in just two days for a Barry teenager involved in a horror crash in Australia.

Samuel Corria, 18, has had to have part of his skull removed after suffering brain damage and spinal injuries when the car he was driving hit an irrigation pipe and flipped over four times on the outskirts of Coomealla, New South Wales.

Gap year student Sam, a former St Richard Gwyn school pupil, had been working as a fruit picker in Australia when the accident happened earlier this month.

His mother Sarah Milne, 40, was flown out to be at her son's side with help from her family who rallied round to fund a ticket.

With Sam now out of a medically induced coma and facing a lengthy rehabilitation - where he will have to learn to walk again from scratch - the family could be landed with medical bills upward of £75,000, not including the cost of flying him and his mother home.

Sam's aunt Jane Williamson, 44, of St James Crescent, Barry said: "He will be having another operation in six weeks to replace the missing part of his skull.

"With serious bleeds on the brain they don't think he should fly for a year. If he does fly he would have to sit at the front of the plane with an oxygen mask and a medic.

"With my sister being a single parent of two, it's going to be a struggle."

To help cover some of the costs the family set up a "Help Sam Get Home" Go Fund Me page which, after the Barry & District News first reported the story online earlier this week, gained national attention and raised an amazing £3,600 in less than two days.

Paul Adamson of Barry's JAM Fund charity has pledged £2,000 to the cause.

Although the family believe they will be able to receive some assistance with the cost of parts of Samuel's medical care, they may have to pay out for medicine, the cost of Samuel being airlifted to hospital and his ongoing rehabilitation.

Writing on the Go Fund Me page from Australia, Sarah said: "Thank you to each and every one of you for your amazing support.

"Sam is now starting physio and yesterday was walking with a frame. The progress he is making is amazing .

"I was due to start a new job before I flew out which I'm doubtful will be kept open for me, so these funds will be extremely helpful to us."

Jane added: "We would like to say a big thanks to everyone in such a small community, and everyone outside of it, who have pulled together.

"The support has been absolutely overwhelming."

Sam's Go Fund Me page can be found at www.gofundme.com/rrx8rn4c