Vale Thommo

Last weekend one of our colleagues at ILA Vietnam in Vung Tau had an accident. His name was Andrew Thomson, a citizen of New Zealand and the world. Initially, he was knocked off his bike by someone who apparently didn't stop (this is a not infrequent occurrence in Vietnam, sadly). He probably was not badly injured at this time, but immediately behind him was a van that didn't have any chance of avoiding him. Thommo suffered broken bones and a punctured lung as a result of this second accident.

He was taken to hospital in Vung Tau and doctors there tried to treat him for some hours before it was decided that he would need to be moved to HCMC for more specialist, intensive treatment. The damage to his lungs was quite extreme, affecting his breathing to the extent that the blood flow to his heart was not being oxygenated. He suffered at least one cardiac arrest during Sunday, and this is likely to have caused brain damage. Thommo was unconscious and on a respirator during Sunday and into Monday evening, when his body gave up the fight and he was gone.

Thommo's mother and sister were able to get to Vietnam in time to see him. Today the Vung Tau teachers gathered at the centre to meet them and to share between us what we knew of Thommo and his life. Between us we sketched the life of someone who may be a bit of a larrikin, had a love of the world and made sure to see as much of it as possible in his 44 years. We learned that in teaching - both in secondary education and as an English language teacher - that he had found his vocation, and that he had intended to pursue it onwards in his working, and travelling life. Next stop was quite possibly Kazakhstan, after already have worked in the North Sea, Spain, Venezuala, the Indian Ocean, off Cape Horn and around Africa. We had confirmed for us the idea of Thommo as a gentleman-at-large, and while his 2 months in Vietnam has been too short to know all about him, we know we are farewelling a man who is well-loved, without an enemy, and without the capability of making one.