An Australian man was brutally attacked in Greece and is now unable to return home. Photo / Michelle Kathopoulis
An Australian man was brutally attacked in Greece and is now unable to return home. Photo / Michelle Kathopoulis
WARNING: Distressing content
The family of an Australian man brutally attacked in Greece is desperately trying to get him back home.
Charlie Kathopoulis, 43, was in Rhodes completing army requirements and helping to settle his late father's estate when he was left with horrific injuries after two men broke into his residence.
Charlie's sister Michelle, 45, said two men, who she described as "beggars", were trying to steal cords to sell and, she claimed, were high on drugs.
It is believed Charlie had gone outside to approach the men to tell them to get out.
"That's what we have ascertained after seeing the CCTV footage," Michelle told news.com.au from Rhodes.
Charlie Kathopoulis was beaten to the head with a steel bar and stabbed multiple times in the throat and chest. Photo / Michelle Kathopoulis
Charlie was badly beaten on the head with a steel bar and stabbed multiple times in the throat and chest after he was unable to fend them off.
"There was a blood trail to his bedroom and the bed and pillows are completely sodden in blood. This is where Charlie's phone was," a distraught Michelle said.
"He called the neighbour to call the police. The ambulance arrived and paramedics applied pressure to the stab wounds to the neck to reduce the amount of blood loss. We were told that this saved his life."
Michelle said her brother was left with major head trauma, skull fractures, an explosive fracture to the jaw, a critically damaged windpipe, a broken collarbone and punctured lungs.
He was immediately transported to Rhodes Hospital where he remains in ICU.
Two men have since been arrested over the attack, Michelle said, adding it's likely they will be charged with attempted murder.
Charlie with his family. Photo / Michelle Kathopoulis
"The police and forensic team in Rhodes also called on a forensic team in Athens to attend the crime scene. This is the second most horrific crime to occur on the island."
CCTV footage showed brain matter and blood on Charlie's clothes and shoes, Michelle said.
She, along with sisters Jacqui and Maria, both 40, and their mother Denise, 67, took the first flight out of Darwin to get to Rhodes to be with Charlie following the incident in late May.
"These circumstances are something you read about, or watch a movie about. We were shocked, emotional, angry," Michelle told news.com.au.
"It really is hard to describe the range of emotions that result from your brother and son being brutally attacked and not knowing if he will live or die – and from so far away."
The siblings have since started a GoFundMe to help raise funds to bring their brother home. The page has raised more than AU$67,000 including a generous AU$10,000 donation from one family.
"We are very humbled, grateful, gobsmacked, surprised, emotional, and cannot thank people enough – we have been so very moved by this," Michelle said.
"We often find ourselves shaking our heads in disbelief at the support and generosity. We have personally thanked each and every donor."
Charlie has been living in Rhodes since 2019 to complete army requirements and help settle his late father's estate who lost his battle with cancer. Photo / Michelle Kathopoulis
Charlie's condition
Michelle said her brother was initially non-responsive, with his head injures leaving him in a medically induced coma for 35 days.
The family is not sure of the condition of Charlie's windpipe, his larynx, his vocal cords, or his neurological state.
"However, after many months, he is communicative and responsive. He is unable to talk because of the tracheostomy they did through a stab wound, which is a unique procedure, not done before, and tubes in his throat," Michelle said.
"They performed emergency surgery removing part of his skull to make room for the swelling of the brain.
"We were told that this too, saved his life. The surgeons were very surprised – these extensive injuries are critical and life-threatening and it is very, very rare for a patient to survive the surgery."
However, the family are desperate to get Charlie home to provide him with all the necessary surgeries and care he needs.
Michelle said while they are immensely grateful for the care and support that has been provided by the hospital in Rhodes, they find themselves "in a state of deep distress and limbo as a result of a complex and seemingly impenetrable medical system".
"The hospital has approached four different hospitals to admit Charlie to receive the lifesaving operations he needs to begin recovery (such as wind pipe surgery). He has been denied admission each time," Michelle said.
He has been accepted at Royal Darwin Hospital — but it is going to cost the family upwards of AU$450,000 to get him to Australia via Aeromedical retrieval from Rhodes, direct to Darwin.
"We are in the process of collating all our funds, but humbly and with deep embarrassment, we need help to reach this massive target," Michelle said.
She described her brother as a loveable man with a "darling heart" and cannot and will not lose sight of "saving our beloved Charlie".
"From a young age, we have called Charlie a 'gentle man'. He has a heart of gold. He feels so much responsibility for his family, and us sisters, and has tried to step up and play a larger role as family carer since dad passed away from cancer in August 2019," Michelle said.
It is also when he moved to Rhodes, as he helped to settle his father's estate.
"The past couple of months have been so stressful, mentally draining, exhausting, financially cumbersome, and being away from our own families takes its toll," Michelle said.
But the siblings and their mother refuse to leave Charlie's side.
To help the Kathopoulis family with donations, click here.
