Enda Carlisle, from Crossmaglen, County Armagh is fighting for his life in a New Jersey hospital after a hit-and-run driver left him for dead.
 
The 37-year-old was knocked down on June 25 while visiting his family in New Jersey.
 
His sister Sandra and Martina flew to New Jersey from Ireland as soon as they hear.
 
Martina said “It’s been a living nightmare ever since we got the phonecall from America.”
 
“I had prepared myself for the worst but nothing can prepare you for seeing your brother like that.”
 
Enda was on life support for nine days following he accident which left him with brain damage, damaged intestines and a broken pelvis. He also underwent emergency surgery to remove half his bowel. He is currently still in a critic condition and still can not walk.
 
Doctors in the New Jersey hospital told his family that they did not expect him to live. However he continues to fight for his life.
 
“He’s very confused and thinks he’s in Ireland. He didn’t recognize us at first, which was really hard to cope with but after a few days he remembered who we were,” said Martina. “He can’t eat and has lost loads of weight. But when you think about the fact that he could be dead, he’s actually a very lucky man just to have made it this far.”
 
Now that his sisters are reassured that his is making some sort of progress they are now being faced with the daunting task of dealing with their brother’s medical bill.
 
“I just can’t see how we’re going to manage…I’m a single parent and none of us are exactly well off. We couldn’t get over to see Enda as quickly as we wanted to because we had to find the money – our flights were £1,500 each.
 
“The hospital is costing £25,000 a day – thankfully the Irish Centre in New Jersey is contributing to that but I can’t even think about the other costs and how we’re going to pay them.”