A family has made a desperate appeal for help after a loving dad fell critically ill on holiday.

Father-of-four Ronnie Slade, 62, was visiting a friend in Moldova when he contracted flu, which soon spiralled out of control and has left him unconscious on a life-support machine in hospital.

His distraught family are now desperate to bring him back to the UK for lifesaving treatment which is not available in the eastern European country - at a cost of £20,000.

The salesman, who has spent most of his life in Canterbury and has links to Sittingbourne, has been diagnosed with acute respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia and renal failure.

The deputy Prime Minister of the eastern European country Natalie Gherman has ordered his care to be free initially but with his condition worsening, his family need to get him back to England for further treatment.

As he has been unconscious since Tuesday, his family have been unable to find his relevant insurance paperwork and now need to raise the £20,000 for a medical airlift.

His daughter Carly Slade said: "The hospital in Moldova are being incredibly helpful and doing as much as they can to help our dad but being a poor country they can only do so much.

"A specialist doctor has been in contact with the hospital and she says that the best way to ensure he recovers is to get him airlifted to a hospital of excellence in the UK.

"Our father's life is at risk and we are helpless without the funds to provide the care he needs."

Carly and her siblings are raising money through a Just Giving site, which you can donate to by clicking here.

They have set up a hashtag to help to spread the word, which can be found on #SaveRonnie