A young British holidaymaker has been 'instantly paralysed' after breaking his neck while 'belly flopping' in the pool while on holiday with his girlfriend.William Ponter went away with his girlfriend Rebecca Francey, 27, to Turkey on August 28.On the pair's last day on September 3, Ms Francey says they were 'belly flopping' into the pool when she noticed her 24-year-old partner didn't 'come back up'.After floating to the surface face down, the electrician was pulled out of the pool and an ambulance was called, but Ms Francey claims he was 'instantly paralysed'.At the hospital, Mr Ponter underwent a 13-hour surgery as he had broken his neck.His C4 bone was removed due to fears he would suffer a stroke.Now still in intensive care, Ms Francey has set up a fundraiser to raise £150,000, as Mr Ponter did not have the correct holiday insurance to cover his medical bills and repatriation back to the UK.Ms Francey, from Carnforth, Lancashire, said: 'It just felt like a dream I was going to wake up from. William Ponter has been 'instantly paralysed' after breaking his neck while 'belly flopping' in the pool while on holiday with his girlfriend William Ponter went away with his girlfriend Rebecca Francey, 27, to Turkey on August 28 Ms Francey said the horrific accident was 'like a dream I was going to wake up from''The incident happened on the Thursday but we were meant to be leaving on the Friday.'We were at the pool and we were both jumping in and I was stood at the side then he jumped in and just didn't come back up.'I was diving and he was sort of belly flopping. I think he just went to the bottom.'She described how he then floated to the surface, face down. 'I jumped in and I pulled him out and he said he couldn't move,' she continued.'I think I must have been shouting for help but people were there around him and an ambulance was called.'He needed bones removed quickly because they were scared he was going to have a stroke because he was struggling with his breathing.'I had to call his parents and tell them that their son is going to be paralysed.' Ms Francey described how she saw Mr Ponter belly flop into the water and float back up to the surface, face down Mr Ponter did not purchase the correct holiday insurance before his tripDespite the operation, the doctor's prognosis was that Mr Ponter will be paralysed from the neck down.Ms Francey says that they have 'no idea' what Mr Ponter's future will look like in terms of recovery but his medical bills have already cost £50,000.Ms Francey said: 'We don't know what the future is going to look like now.'We have no idea until he's out of the ICU, we have no idea at all.'The hospital fees alone are already at £50,000 and it's £2000 a day while he's in ICU.'She said that they need to raise at least another £40,000 for his repatriation back to the UK, 'and who knows much more'.She added how he did not purchase the right holiday insurance before their trip. 'We just all want him home because it couldn't have happened to a better person, it's not fair.'Just a split second just changed everything.'Just check with your insurance what's covered before you go,' she said.In July, a British tourist died at a hotel in Ibiza after coming down a water slide and failing to surface. The 64-year-old is understood to have lost his life in front of relatives, including his wife, who were staying with him on a family holiday. Paramedics and other emergency personnel raced to the scene after he was spotted in difficulty in the pool on a popular resort of Cala Tarida, on the west coast of the Spanish island. He was given CPR and treated with a defibrillator by hotel staff to try to restore his natural heart rhythm after they confirmed he had gone into cardiac arrest.Paramedics took over when they arrived, but attempts to save his life proved unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.Also in July, another British tourist died months after he and another man took a massive fall when a wooden banister 'collapsed' in Lanzarote.Nicholas Thomas, a 54-year-old from the Welsh town of Cwmbran, was severely injured on October 25 last year while he was holidaying at the tourist hotspot.Media reports at the time indicated he was one of two men who fell into the atrium stairwell at the Galeon Playa Apartments in the resort town of Costa Teguise. The other man was reported to be 56-year-old Darren Silcox, also from Cwmbran, who was pronounced dead two hours after the fall happened at around 1.30am that day.At an inquest held at Gwent Coroner's Court, coroner Rose Farmer said Mr Thomas fell between 15ft and 22ft after a wooden banister 'collapsed'.Following the fall, he was taken to Doctor Jose Molina Orosa Hospital for initial treatment before he was flown back to the UK at the end of November.Mr Thomas was first taken to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, before he was transferred to Grange University Hospital.Mr Thomas was later transferred to University Hospital in Llandough, but sadly died on July 10.The inquest heard that the incident was being looked into by Spanish police, who are investigating whether inadequate upkeep or safety measures played a role in what happened.The proceedings were adjourned until April 14 next year.His family held his funeral on August 14 at Gwent Crematorium, according to social media posts.At an inquest for Mr Silcox's death, Farmer said preliminary investigations suggested Silcox died 'due to a traumatic brain injury due to a fall, skull fractures and skull lacerations'.Following Mr Silcox's passing, local councillor David Daniels said he was a 'lovely guy'.He added in an interview with the BBC: 'Darren and his wife [Kim] were at the heart of the community and had run the [Premier] shops for many decades.'Everybody who has grown up in the area would know the shops and we called in there every day after school. He was very kind to us and he was very generous.'Social media posts revealed Kim Silcox passed away in 2024. Daniels added: 'For Darren Silcox to die a year after Kim passed away is unbelievably awful, and our thoughts are with his children, Connor and Ellie.'