Plea for help after man left paralysed from 'drifting' car stunt in Japan
A young Perth man has been told he’ll never walk again after a drifting crash overseas left him paralysed.
Danny Westwood has been left stranded in a Japanese hospital and can’t come home until a $100,000 medical bill is paid.
His family and friends are now pleading for help so the self-proclaimed thrill-seeker can travel back to Australia.
Mr Westwood was in Japan pursuing one of his dangerous hobbies known as drifting, where drivers intentionally oversteer, causing their car to slide at speed.
He travelled to Japan to fulfil his dreams, famously portrayed in the Fast and the Furious franchise film Tokyo Drift.
However while driving, the 25-year-old lost control and crashed.
Mr Westwood broke his neck and vertebrae and damaged his spinal cord.
He now has limited movement in his arms and no feeling from the ribcage down.
“It’s beginning to take a toll, not being able to communicate clearly with the doctors and not having a clear understanding is starting to wear on him,” Mr Westwood’s friend Georgia Cottnam said.
Mr Westwood has travel insurance, but it doesn’t cover motorsport accidents.
Japanese doctors won’t let him fly home to Perth until his rising medical bill is paid.
In WA, drifting is legal in formal competition. About 250 drivers compete and there are strict safety guidelines.
Cars must have a protective frame known as a roll cage, while helmets are essential. But overseas the rules are more lax.
“He’ll do everything in his power to walk again. Even if the doctors tell him he can’t, he’ll be ready to try and prove them wrong,” Ms Cottnam said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by Ms Cottnam, who is looking to help cover his growing medical costs so he can come home.
“He was living every young guy’s Tokyo Drift fantasy and it is a shame that an unforeseeable scenario has led to this accident,” she wrote.
