SHANE FREE is on his way back home to Britain after two months in hospital on Phuket, most of the time in a coma.

With him on the trip via Bangkok to Heathrow Airport in Britain will go a nurse and a doctor . . . and his mother, Monica Vearer.

''Shane's doing good,'' she said today as she checked the medical equipment in a bag and oversaw Shane's journey on a hospital trolley to the ambulance.

''We're excited. He's going to be admitted for evaluation at Ipswich Hospital and we'll take it from there.''

Ms Vearer was full of praise for the doctors and nurses at Vachira Hospital in Phuket City and for a couple who helped her out with transport and more.

''I'd like to thank Kurt and Anna Lewis especially for their help. ''If it hadn't been for them I don't know what we would have done.''

Shane, a diving instructor with his own business on Phuket, was found on the road after a motorcycle mishap. All his identification and valuables were missing.

Thousands of friends offered him support on a Facebook page, and today he was on his way. Ms Vearer is confident of a complete recovery.

''Shane can breathe by himself now,'' she said. ''He can hear, he can see, he understand that he has had a motorcycle accident.

''He indicates by blinking with his eyes.''

Back in Britain, the national health system will provide for Shane's recovery. Ms Vearer, who has been campaigning for increased use of helmets and law enforcement on Phuket's roads, is not through yet.

''We're going to be back,'' she said, smiling broadly as she boarded the ambulance with Shane.

Accompanying his special patient will be the head of Vachira's international department, Dr Gerhard Melcher.