Pensioner jumps out of plane to raise funds for holiday attack survivor
Tharel Thompson, 30, from Barbados miraculously survived after he was violently stabbed in the head by a then-serving British Army soldier at a bar in Reading last year.
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The Source Exclusive: Pensioner jumps out of plane to raise funds for holiday attack survivor
Tharel Thompson who was stabbed in an unprovoked attack in Reading is not a UK citizen and will need to pay a staggering £160,000 medical bill to cover the costs of surgery.
STORY BY MELISSA SIGODO
JULY 29, 2025
A 78-year-old pensioner has jumped out of a plane at 12,000ft to raise money for man who miraculously survived an unprovoked attack.
A few days after arriving on holiday to the UK from Barbados, Tharel Thompson, 30, was brutally stabbed in the head by a then-serving British Army soldier at a bar in Reading on February 11, 2024.
Following the attack, the lighting technician was left fighting for his life and was placed in a medically-induced coma, leaving his distraught family unsure whether he would live.
But over a year since surviving the vicious assault, Tharel who couldn’t hold his own weight has now slowly started to walk again, but still requires surgery and physical therapy to help him regain some of the functions of his body.
However, as the 30-year-old is not a UK citizen, his mother Yvonne Thompson is struggling to pay his staggering £160,000 medical bill while he remains in the country.
But after learning of the mum and son’s plight, strangers have been rallying to help the family including Diana Collymore from Brent, London, who at nearly 80-years-old accomplished a heart-racing skydive to raise funds for his recovery.
The 78-year-old who is of Barbadian descent says that others across the diaspora have been coming together to chip in with the costs of Tharel’s medical needs.
Speaking to The Source Diana said: “During the skydive, when I got up to 6000ft, all I could think was, ‘I’m doing this for Tharel.’”
Tharel now needs a third surgery to have a metal plate fitted to protect his brain and the deposit for this procedure alone is £10,000.
Diana said: “When I told his mother I was going to do the skydive she laughed. But it has been so difficult for her.
“Tharel is so determined. He’s learning to walk again. I just wanted to help.”
Speaking to The Source, Tharel’s mother Yvonne recalled the horrific moment she found out her only child had been attacked.
Yvonne said: “One of his cousins called. He asked, ‘have you heard about Tharel?’.
“I said, ‘what about Tharel?’, and he said, ‘he went to a club and got stabbed and right now he’s at the hospital and they don’t know if he’s going to survive.’
Yvonne says she “screamed” after hearing the devastating news which made her body turn stiff.
She said: “It’s the most horrific thing any parent could hear. I cried and screamed. My blood pressure went through the roof. My hands were stiff.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that happening in my body before.
“Then I had to sit on an eight-hour flight. They were the longest hours.”
Yvonne says she still finds it difficult to fully come to terms with what has happened to her son, but that seeing his journey and the physical scars make it real.
She said: “Up until this day, I can't even believe that it happened. I know it's happening because I can see the scar on his head and how he is right now, but it's still so surreal.
“He's starting to walk, so to see him actually stand and make these steps, it brought tears to my eyes.
“But because of the brain injury, he has a lot of motion sickness, so he can't even really go anywhere without him vomiting. So, it's just a lot to be dealing with.”
Yvonne says she has been living with a ‘friend of a friend’ in London since the attack which turned their lives upside down.
The mum says she’s had to give up her home, her car and all her belongings in Barbados all because of one person’s senseless actions.
She said: “I had to give up my vehicle that I had that I spent over $50,000 in payments already. Everything is gone. The money is just gone.
“I work for the Barbados government and they have been lenient with giving me unpaid leave. They have given me a year and a half already, and I don't know how much longer I'm even going to get.
“And the furniture appliances and so on, I got rid of things. Everything is just gone just because of one silly person attacking him.”
Yvonne says she is grateful to everyone who has helped raise funds for her son so far including Diana, but most of all, the staff who looked after Tharel in hospital.
She said: “I’m really grateful to the staff at Royal Berkshire Hospital and John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
“Without the staff I don’t know what would have happened.”
Krisma Anthony, 23, who attacked Tharel has since been sentenced to 27 years in prison for attempted murder.
A British Army source told The Source that, “while the Army expects the highest standards of behaviour from all of it’s personnel, Mr Anthony is no longer serving and this matter has been dealt with through the Criminal Justice System”.
A GoFundMe has raised over £35,000 which has already gone towards paying for Tharel’s rehabilitation at a facility. You can click here to donate.
*This story has been updated to reflect that Krisma Anthony was a British Army soldier. It had previously stated he was a British soldier.