Australian family arranges costly medical flight home for autistic son from Japan

An Australian family was evacuated from Japan after their 18-year-old autistic son, Ryan James, developed an intense fear of flying and could not board a commercial flight. After he was assessed as unfit to fly, his parents arranged a specialist medical flight to bring him home, facing costs that may reach $500,000.

The family had travelled to Tokyo Disneyland to celebrate Ryan’s birthday, and he had previously flown to five countries without difficulty. After three failed attempts to get him on a domestic flight, they spent two weeks stranded in Japan; the medical retrieval was quoted at least $296,000, with sedation and other care adding to the bill. A fundraising appeal raised more than $200,000, and the family said they may remortgage their home.