Aussie family stranded in Japan facing remortgaging house to get home

Ally Langdon was moved to tears by the plight of two Sydney parents stranded overseas, who told her they’re facing remortgaging their home after they were told it would cost $500,000 to come back.

An online fundraiser has been set up for Australian couple Brad and Mel, who are described as facing a “parent’s worst nightmare” after taking their family on a trip to Japan.

Their 18-year-old son, Ryan, is “absolutely obsessed” with Mickey Mouse, and visiting the Disney theme park in Tokyo, Japan, was meant to be the trip of a lifetime.

“We just wanted to give him something for his 18th birthday,” Mel told A Current Affair.

“Being a child with autism, we can’t buy him a car or give him an 18th party that we all had and enjoyed, so his love for Mickey was my determination to take him to Tokyo.”

The Sydney mum’s touching comment had Langdon welling up.

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“Guys, you’re making me cry with that,” she said through tears.

“I mean, it’s hard to believe you’re in this situation when a couple of days ago you were enjoying a beautiful holiday at Disneyland as a family.

“You shouldn’t have to remortgage your house to bring your boy home.”

Ryan, who has autism and a rare neurological condition, had travelled in planes without any issues before, but in Japan he developed a sudden fear of flying and has been unable to board an aircraft.

Mel and Brad made the heartbreaking decision to send their other two children home to Australia, and they have been stranded in a Tokyo hotel for 10 days.

They were advised that Ryan would need be sedated and taken on a medical flight to return home, with a doctor on standby.

This would cost the family $500,000, according to the doctors they spoke to.

Fundraiser founder Janelle Goulding says in her post the money raised will go towards the high-cost specialist medical transport to bring Ryan home, and accommodation and living expenses while he and his parents remain in Japan.

So far, more than $146,000 has been raised of a current goal of $200,000.

The couple said travel insurance also wouldn’t cover it as they had not declared their son’s condition - despite the fact he had travelled on planes before without any issue.

“What if we developed a sudden fear of flying over here?” Brad said.

“Fear of flying is not a symptom of autism.”

Ryan is also struggling with increased anxiety in Japan, while Brad said he and Mel felt “physically ill” about the situation.

To meet costs, he said the couple planned to remortgage their house.

“It’s not something Mel and I really care about at this stage,” he said.

“We would pay anything to get our son home.”