Cory Harrison, 21, has been in a coma since Memorial Day. He suffered serious injuries after falling more than 15 feet from a second-floor balcony.
With 11 children at home, Gary Harrison and his wife are used to things being hectic.
"[An] Embassy representative called and [I] didn't know what to think, tried to figure out on a Saturday -- no it was a Sunday -- how to get over there," Gary recalled. "It sucks, we got eleven kids, and so it's kind of hard to split the family. Palma's an Island out in the Mediterranean."
Gary says his son was working on Palma for the summer.
The fall left Cory with a fractured skull, ribs and vertebrae.
Gary says Cory landed "on his head on the cobble stones and has been in a coma ever since."
Gary rushed to the airport and got on the first plane to the island. He says his son is hooked up to a lot of tubes like you would normally see with an Intensive Care Unit patient. The father also says it was difficult not being able to talk to hospital staff because his Spanish is not that good.
He says Cory is doing better but remains unconscious. The Harrisons want Cory to receive treatment in Raleigh, but getting him home hasn't been easy.
"No, I didn't think it would be this hard, we're gonna get him back one way or another," Gary said. "I just don't know how."
Wake Med has a bed ready at a rehab center that specializes in treating Cory's type of injuries.
Gary says his insurance company signed off on the treatment, but won't pay to transport his son from Spain. His only other option is to pay more than $80,000 to transport Cory from Spain to Raleigh by ambulance.
The community has come together on Facebook and raised a couple thousand dollars, but it is not enough. Gary says he wants his family back and won't stop fighting until Cory is home where he belongs.
"We're gonna get him back one way or another, I just don't know how," Gary said.
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