A Charleston man mysteriously fell five stories from a Thailand apartment building on Saturday. The fall severed his spinal cord, and now his mother is desperately trying to reach him.

William Baxter Harrison has been studying world religion at Assumption University, a Catholic school in Bangkok. He was found by volunteer paramedics after a five-story fall, said his mother Kay Dillon, owner of O'Kays restaurant and bar on Leon Sullivan Way.

The 23-year-old Harrison had lived in Thailand for about a year and was dating a girl there, she said.

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Chip Ellis

Kay Dillon, owner of O’Kay’s on Leon Sullivan Way, is trying to get to Thailand to be with her son, who was seriously injured after falling five stories from a Bangkok apartment building.

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Martin said he consoled his friend. "I talked him down," he said.

The next day Harrison called Martin, at about midnight Saturday in Bangkok, saying he was going to go to the woman's house and talk to her.

"He was calm, he just wanted to try and work it out," Martin said. "He was on his way over there."

A few hours later, Martin got a call from the U.S. State Department, saying there had been a terrible accident.

"They called John because his number was the last number called on [Harrison's] phone," Dillon said.

The State Department told Dillon that her son was alive but needed surgery. He has a severed spinal cord and may have brain damage, she said.

It took her 12 hours to get permission to the Thai hospital to do the surgery, she said.

A Charleston man mysteriously fell five stories from a Thailand apartment building on Saturday. The fall severed his spinal cord, and now his mother is desperately trying to reach him.

William Baxter Harrison has been studying world religion at Assumption University, a Catholic school in Bangkok. He was found by volunteer paramedics after a five-story fall, said his mother Kay Dillon, owner of O'Kays restaurant and bar on Leon Sullivan Way.

The 23-year-old Harrison had lived in Thailand for about a year and was dating a girl there, she said.

But Harrison called his close friend John Martin last Thursday, telling him that his girlfriend had cheated on him, Martin said Tuesday afternoon.

Martin said he consoled his friend. "I talked him down," he said.

The next day Harrison called Martin, at about midnight Saturday in Bangkok, saying he was going to go to the woman's house and talk to her.

"He was calm, he just wanted to try and work it out," Martin said. "He was on his way over there."

A few hours later, Martin got a call from the U.S. State Department, saying there had been a terrible accident.

"They called John because his number was the last number called on [Harrison's] phone," Dillon said.

The State Department told Dillon that her son was alive but needed surgery. He has a severed spinal cord and may have brain damage, she said.

It took her 12 hours to get permission to the Thai hospital to do the surgery, she said.

"They were not sure if he would survive the surgery. They don't think he will walk again," Dillon said.

Much of the details surrounding the fall are murky.

Paramedics in Thailand are volunteers, and a paramedic crew apparently saw Harrison fall, Dillon said. They immediately went to help him, but were surprised when no one came to his aid from the apartment building, she said.

It's unclear whether there is an investigation into the fall going on in Thailand, but Dillon said when she was contacted by the State Department, they asked her several questions.

"They asked me who would harm him and why, how long he had been in the country," she said. "None of it registered. I heard that my son's spinal cord had been severed, that he was bleeding from the ears. ... So the questions seemed irrelevant at the time."

The office of Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is helping Dillon get an emergency visa to go to Thailand, said Capito spokesman Jonathan Coffin.

"Obviously it's a very serious situation. Anything we can do to help, we want to make sure that we do," Coffin said.

Dillon said she doesn't know how much it is going to cost her or how when she will be able to reach her son.

"I'm just trying to get over there," she said. "I need to be with him."

To contact staff writer Gary Harki, use e-mail or call 348-5163.