A family have thanked all those who donated towards the medical bills for a Blackburn man who fell ill while spending Christmas in Canada.

David Verlander, a dad-of-four, travelled to Canada to spend Christmas with his daughter Hollie but fell ill during his visit.

His family said he was facing medical bills of $10,000 a day, and following a special online appeal thousands have already been raised for the 59-year-old Blackburn Rovers fan.

His daughter Olivia said: “My dad is currently in Canada where he went to spend Christmas with my sister for the first time in 10 years. 

“He fell critically ill and is currently in intensive care unable to breathe by himself, he’s been there for two days currently and will be there for the foreseeable.

“Unfortunately medical treatment in Canada is expensive (up to $10,000 per day) and our family would appreciate any support we can get, even if it’s just a share or a £1 donation.”

More than £8,000 had been raised in a short space of time since the appeal began.

Yesterday, (Wednesday) she updated all those who had donated on the GoFundMe page.

Olivia wrote: “Firstly, thank you to everybody who has already donated. I can’t thank you all enough, it means the world to our family.

“Hollie and I went to visit to see how he is getting on. 

“The doctors have established the infections are bacterial pneumonia and viral influenza.

"To complicate matters further, he also developed Group A Streptococcus in his lungs. 

“He was initially on broad-spectrum antibiotics, but having identified the specific type of bacteria causing the infection, he’s now being given the corresponding antibiotics.

"The doctor’s have explained to us there’s not much they can do (medication-wise) regarding the influenza, because it’s viral. 

“So it is up to my dad’s body to fight the infection while the strain is taken off his body/lungs with the life support. 

“The doctors have stressed it is still early days and the several variables in play make it difficult to give an accurate prognosis.”

She said there were small improvements in his condition when they visited. 

She said: “They have turned off the paralytics they were administering, and 24 hours on, there has been no issues or concerns about this.

"Regarding sedation, they are administering three different drugs, one of which they have been able to reduce by 60 per cent, with no issues as yet. 

“Essentially they are very slowly and methodically trying to wake his body up, and hope his body reacts well to this.

"Also, the oxygen he requires has reduced from 60 to 50 per cent, but has fluctuated since reducing the sedation, which is apparently quite normal.

“Although it is impossible to say, we hope he spends no longer than one week in ICU.

“Thank you again to everyone who has donated, shared, messaged me or any one of my family. The response has been heart warming to say the least.”

You can find more about the appeal here.