‘Kind and gentle': Man critical over alleged drunken e-scooter incident

West Australian

03-06-2025

A man beloved by his community, with a wife who recently had a suspected stroke and a child with high-needs autism, is now in critical condition after a tragic e-bike incident on Saturday evening.
Thanh Phan, 51, took a trip into the Perth CBD for dinner, but was struck by an e-scooter at the interception of Murray and King street.
The e-scooter rider is allegedly a woman who was under the influence of alcohol.
Mr Phan remains in critical condition at the intensive care unit of the Royal Perth Hospital after undergoing surgery.
The 51-year-old from Menora has built a loving community in his neighbourhood, with friends of the engineer expressing their condolences.
'When we visited, they said he had a very brief period of waking up again and being able to say his name and he knew where he was,' neighbour Siobhan O'Halloran told the ABC.
'But the swelling in the brain was such that they had to operate to save him.'
Mr Phan's wife, Loan Phan, had recently had a suspected stroke, and his son has special needs, Ms O'Halloran said.
'He eventually helped her with rehabilitation and has been working from home ever since to support her. One of their boys has very high-needs autism and she spends a lot of her time caring for him,' Ms O'Halloran.
Ms Phan is now struggling to accept her husband's condition, and the entire family is anxiously waiting for his recovery.
'She's just still in shock, she's just in denial,' Ms O'Halloran's husband Lee Carroll told the ABC.
'She speaks English as her second language [and] is now facing this heartbreaking crisis alone — caring for their sons, navigating a complex medical system, and trying to stay strong while her husband remains in a critical condition.'
He also reported that Mr Phan was the only source of income for the family.
The neighbours reflected on the Phan's families warmth and generosity.
'When we got Covid in our house, he and Loan brought over trays and trays of food, we didn't know them that well [at the time],' Mr Carrol told the ABC.
'He's always been very, very friendly, affectionate and kind and gentle.
'He's loved having our kids over at his house, he shows them the fish pond that he made and the budgies that they have, he's just very kind and very gentle man.'
The couple called for e-scooter trials in urban hubs to end.
'Other states have already ended the trial of e-scooters in the city because there are so many deaths and serious injuries arising from them,' Ms O'Halloran said.
'For this to happen … as somebody tries to get to a restaurant in the city, I feel like everyone I talk to doesn't want to take their children or doesn't want to spend time in the city unless they have to.'
Alicia Kemp, 24, is alleged by police to be riding the e-scooter under the influence of alcohol with a 26-year-old passenger, before she hit Mr Phan.
The passenger was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Ms Kemp is set to reappear in the Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being charged with dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm – under the influence of alcohol, and dangerous driving causing bodily harm – under the influence of alcohol.