The parents of a Vancouver man who suffered third-degree burns to half his body in last week's terrorist attack in Bali are keeping a bedside vigil at an Australian hospital.

Richard (Rick) Gleason, a 38-year-old accountant who had recently worked for Vancouver's Ethical Funds Inc., was vacationing on the Indonesian island at the time of the attack, which killed at least 180 people.

Mr. Gleason, an MBA graduate of Queens University, was severely injured and airlifted to Australia, where he is now in the intensive-care unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. A week after the attack, Mr. Gleason remains in critical condition, with third-degree burns to 45 per cent of his body. He was also cut on the neck, losing a significant amount of blood, and his lungs and spleen were injured. His parents flew to be with him this week.

"When they talked to him while he was under sedation, he seemed to be himself," Robin Kerr, Mr. Gleason's cousin, said in an interview from Vancouver yesterday.

Mr. Gleason has already had five skin-graft operations, and more are anticipated. He is expected to live, but faces at least two more months in the Australian hospital. He will then likely return to Canada for extensive rehabilitation.

Although travel insurers say most policies cover medical treatment resulting from terrorist attacks, Mr. Gleason's family do not yet know whether his insurance will pay for the treatment.

Friends in Whitehorse, where Mr. Gleason was born and raised, have established a trust fund for him.

Mr. Gleason had been vacationing for two weeks when the bombing occurred. He had intended to go to Mexico before a cheap flight caused him to make a spur-of-the-moment decision to go to Bali.

In an e-mail to former co-workers the day before the attack, he appeared not to have a care in the world.

"Love to stay and chat, but the swim-up bar with the $1.55 super-large beers (yes, I found a better place) are calling," he told friends at his former workplace.

"All my love to the poor sods who have to work for a living."