My name is Chris Lee and I'm a Brit living in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam. As an Expat living here, we get to meet many people from all walks of life. People of different Nationalities, Faith and background. I met Keith over 6 years ago and bonded over our love of Pool, and continually disagreed about our football teams (another story).

Keith Hancock had had a varied life, including a long career as a popular Folk Singer and many of the people who enjoy that scene, remember him as the writer and composer of the Folk Standard, Absent Friends.

Keith eventually took residence in Ho Chi Minh around the same time that I moved to Saigon in 2013 and has used his life experiences to colour the lives of the people here in Saigon with his writing and his reflection on life, ever since.

On the morning of Tuesday 25th June this year, Keith suffered a heart attacked and was admitted to the ICU at the Heart Foundation in Saigon. where they advised him that he urgently needed an operation.

There is no provision for a National Health Service in Vietnam. The cost of the surgery plus hospital care and ongoing medication will be $8000. We have to raise this money before they will operate. Time is imperative. We are asking his family, his friends from music, and the many others he has made on his travels for help.

We need support in monetary donations and importantly, in people actively sharing this appeal to their friends, fellow musicians, Folk followers and any wider circle.

Any donation will be gratefully accepted. Keith desperately needs this procedure to repair the damage to his heart and to provide any chance of living out a full and fruitful life.

If there is any surplus money after all costs are met, it will be donated to the Children's Heart Foundation at the same hospital. This provides free heart surgery for Vietnam's poor children and is also a very worthy cause.

I do hope that you can help.