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Family of critically ill baby in Hong Kong seeks private flight to UK

Get you up to speed: Family of critically ill British baby stuck in Hong Kong urgently needs private plane | News World

What remains unclear — It is unknown if any donations or support have been secured for the private ambulance flight needed for Baby Matthew’s repatriation.

Family of critically ill baby in Hong Kong seeks private flight to UK

Baby Matthew, who is critically ill, cannot get home to the UK without a private ambulance flight (Picture: Family handout)

A baby boy is stuck in limbo after he became critically ill during a family holiday in Hong Kong, with no way home other than a private ambulance flight.  

Baby Matthew and his family, from Nottinghamshire, travelled to Hong Kong months ago on what was meant to be a ‘joyous’ trip for the nine-month-old to meet extended family with his mum and grandmother. 

But the holiday turned into a ‘complete nightmare’ after he suddenly fell ill with influenza A, which led to three catastrophic cardiac arrests, leaving Matthew critically ill in a hospital.  

As a last resort to bring him home to NHS care, his mum Sophia Lee reached out to Lia’s Wings, the only UK charity providing hospital air transfers for sick children.  

Little Matthew spent his first birthday in hospital, while the family and the charity’s team exhausted every avenue for repatriation, but due to risks associated with transferring a ventilated baby, all commercial airlines refused.  

Smiling baby Matthew before he became critically ill with influenza (Picture: Family handout)

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Sophia said in a statement: ‘What was meant to be a joyful family trip turned into a complete nightmare.  

‘Dad stayed at home because he needed to work. 

‘We had tickets there and tickets back, but he suffered an influenza A infection and respiratory issues, which led to cardiac arrest.  

As a result, the youngster’s brain went without oxygen for a catastrophic 47 minutes.

Lia’s Wings is urgently appealing to find a donated private aircraft flight from Hong Kong to the UK.  

The cost of a private air ambulance flight – up to £200,000 – is beyond what the family or the small charity can afford, Charlotte Young, the chief operating officer of Lia’s Wings, said. 

She said it is a ‘big ask’ but there was no other way to bring Matthew to be with his family and for NHS tests and treatment.  

She told WTX: ‘They are a British family who went on a holiday. It was an influenza infection, it wasn’t a wild accident.  

‘Very quickly their lives changed – they left with a healthy nine-month-old and are coming back with a critically ill one-year-old. They have not done anything crazy and have walked a path a lot of people do. 

‘There is really no other option than the private ambulance flight. 

‘We don’t ask unless it is life or death.’ 

Unless Matthew is moved to the UK, ‘medical decline would happen over a period of time,’ she said.  

Without the repatriation, he risks becoming ‘a tragedy, a British baby left somewhere where he wasn’t within the reach of help of the community where he belongs to.’  

The family had insurance, but the small print did not include repatriation.  

‘The work we do is incredibly complex, and there isn’t anyone else who has the remit to support a family like this,’ Charlotte added.

Lia’s Wings and the family have been working on the case for months behind the scenes, and the charity is ready to deploy a team of two consultants and a paediatric nurse, plus equipment that will adjust a private, long-haul jet suitable for the ‘demanding’ transfer if someone comes forward. 

This is the first time the charity has had such a request for help, with the plea extended to the aviation community, with whom Lia’s Wings has worked before.

‘It is not our everyday medical escort,’ Charlotte continued.

‘Commercial airlines are very used to adults, but babies bring a whole new level of concern for them. 

‘We tried to have that as a first option, because it would have made everything more financially viable, a fifth of the cost, but it is not an option although we tried our hardest.’  

At the moment, Matthew is ‘incredibly unwell’ but stable within his condition, and doctors in Hong Kong and England agreed with the plan to move him.  

Demand for urgent medical transfers for children from abroad has skyrocketed over the past year, Lia’s Wings said.

In the first six months of this year, it has helped more children than last year alone.

Over the past 12 months, it has supported 68 children, and more than 300 children and families since launching in 2010.  

Anyone wanting to support Lia’s Wings can do so here.

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Lebanon charges 13 individuals linked to Hezbollah for trafficking explosives

Get you up to speed: Lebanon charges 13 over confiscated Hezbollah explosives

What remains unclear — It is not clear what action, if any, will be taken against the 11 individuals who remain at large following the charges.

Lebanon charges 13 individuals linked to Hezbollah for trafficking explosives

News|Israel attacks LebanonLebanon charges 13 over confiscated Hezbollah explosives

Group calls charges ‘unjust’, says weapons were meant to be used against Israeli forces in south Lebanon.

Published On 31 Oct 202631 Oct 2026

A Lebanese military court has charged 13 people it says are linked to Hezbollah with trafficking explosives, amid growing pressure on the Iran-backed group to disarm.

The individuals were charged on Friday with offences including possessing weapons, undermining state security and forming illegal associations, Lebanese state media reported.

The charges stem from the seizure earlier this month of a truck transporting explosives at Dahr al-Baydar checkpoint, which links the capital, Beirut, to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The vehicle had been carrying 780kg (1,720 pounds) of explosives, including 250kg (550 pounds) of TNT and 250kg (550 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosives, according to judicial officials.

Two people were arrested during the seizure, while the 11 others charged remain at large. Five have been identified only by nicknames because their real names are unknown.

Hezbollah has acknowledged owning the seized explosives, saying they were intended for use against Israel, which continues to occupy large parts of southern Lebanon. It said it had asked Lebanese authorities to return the shipment and release the two detainees, calling the charges against them “unjust”.

Those charged “did not undermine the security or integrity of the state, but rather confronted the Israeli enemy that threatens Lebanon’s existence,” said Hezbollah Member of Parliament Hussein Hajj Hassan.

Hezbollah’s political opponents fear that smuggled explosives will be turned against the group’s detractors, although investigators have not established that the seized shipment was intended for such an attack.

The case comes as pressure mounts on Hezbollah, which has fought two successive wars with Israel and faces a push from authorities in Beirut, to disarm its military wing.

In June, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement which envisaged Israel’s gradual withdrawal from the areas it occupies in southern Lebanon, tied to Hezbollah’s disarmament, as well as the deployment of the Lebanese army to the south.

But Hezbollah has repeatedly rejected calls to disarm, and the group’s chief, Naim Qassem, has dismissed the Lebanon-Israel agreement as “null and void”.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has promised state authorities “will deal with weapons outside the legal framework with the required firmness”.

Despite its recent framework agreement, Israel has continued carrying out attacks in southern Lebanon and systematically demolishing homes and infrastructure in dozens of villages it occupies.