A young dad facing a lengthy stay at a hospital in Cyprus after breaking his hip, part of his lower back and his leg following a fall.

Sam Hudson, 24, had been partying with his brother and a pal in Ayia Napa when he tumbled from the second floor of his hotel. He was rushed to hospital where doctors found he has broken several bones, including part of his spine. His family, who have flown out to Cyprus, said Sam is in "unimaginable pain" but is "lucky to be alive".

Sam's stepmother, Karen, said: "You just go totally numb, it was the worst phone call you could get. Your mind goes straight for the worst... Doctors at the hospital have said he's lucky to be alive or to not have more severe damage."

Sam, a single dad with a two-year-old boy, had not taken out travel insurance and now he and his family face a medical bill potentially in the 10s of thousands.

READ MORE: Man seen 'dangling off balcony ledge for 30 seconds' before falling to his death

The father left a pool party last Sunday evening when a passerby spotted him trying to walk between balconies at the Anmaria Beach Hotel, where he was staying. It is believed he was trying to reach his brother's room - which was next door - but Sam said he can't remember anything before the fall.

Sam, who had been drinking, fell from the ledge and was then rushed to a local clinic, Famagusta hospital in Paralimni, before being transferred to the biggest hospital on the island, Nicosia General Hospital. Police have launched an investigation into the circumstances of the plunge.

Speaking to Mail Online, Karen, also from Lincoln, added: "You know what young boys are like but I never could have predicted something like this would happen.

"Even though the balcony is second floor, the hotel is on a slope and there's a restaurant too, so it's more like the fourth floor. If the passerby hadn't seen him, Sam could have been lying there for much longer because their room was at the back of the hotel."

Karen said she and other relatives had ttold Sam to get travel insurance before the lads' holiday, but he failed to do so. The case mirrors that of another Brit who also had a fall on holiday - this time in Durban, South Africa last year - which left him fighting for life in hospital. After Dennis Stewart recovered, his sister Debbie warned Brits to always secure travel insurance before they book holidays.

Yet Sam, a decorator, fell foul of this and now his family has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise at least £16,000 to cover a repatriation plane home, or pay for continued care in the Cyprus hospital. His son is said to be "missing his daddy deeply".

Karen continued: "We told him so many times before he left that he needed to get travel insurance but he didn't listen. I want the government to make it a legal requirement that all young people must have travel insurance before travelling because I don't another family to have to go through what we have."