A member of the gang jailed last week after a £5 million cocaine haul was at the centre of a fundraising campaign last year when he collapsed from a heart attack while on holiday in Thailand.

Friends and family of Gareth Harnett, who was jailed for five years and four months last Friday, raised thousands of pounds for the Broadstairs man after he travelled to Phuket in January 2013 without insurance and then needed to pay for life-saving medical treatment.

Harnett collapsed just days into a holiday at a beach resort, where he was with five friends.

His friends with him in south east Asia and the people in Thanet mounted an immediate fundraising campaign via social networking sites on the internet to pay for hospital care and medical treatment.

The appeal raised around £7,500 from friends, acquaintances and strangers.

Once all the expenses had been paid there was still around £3,000 left, which was donated to the Thanet Hospice at Margate.

Speaking at the time, Harnett’s friend Bobby Alamouti, said: “We all chipped in to find the money to keep Gareth in a decent hospital, but it is extremely expensive.”

Bobby said: “The support has been staggering. People we don’t know are chipping in.

“A single mum on benefits managed to give us a tenner. It restores your faith in human nature when people band together to help someone who is in a real mess.”

Speaking to KentOnline's sister paper the Thanet Extra after he arrived back home in the UK following hospital treatment, Harnett said the people of Thanet were “diamonds”.

He said: “I am lucky to be alive. I am told I ‘flatlined’ twice after the heart attack.

“I owe everything to my mates who were with me who put up thousands of pounds initially to get me into a well-equipped hospital where I stood a chance.

“People back home in Thanet then started donating and raising money straight away to keep the fund going. I cannot thank them enough.”

Patrick Dyett, a former Thanet resident who was another member of the gang jailed last week, put £6,000 towards Harnett's hospital fees.

The group of nine were sentenced to a total of almost 89 years at Luton Crown Court on Friday. They were arrested between May and October 2013 following a 12-month operation by detectives.