EXCLUSIVE: British grandmother, 79, is ‘held hostage’ in Turkish intensive care unit as doctors say she has run up a £190,000 medical bill and won’t release her to be flown home to the UK before family pay first £100,000
- The grandmother, 79, initially suffered from a heart attack when visiting friends
- Her family are pleading for help to raise the funds to get their mother home
A British grandmother is being ‘held hostage’ in a Turkish intensive care unit as doctors say she has run up a £190,000 medical bill and they will not release her to be flown home to the UK until her family pay the first £100,000.
The family of a 79-year-old grandmother are pleading for help by the public to help them return her to the UK as she is currently being held in a hospital in Antalya, Turkey.
Lucy Groves, the daughter of the British woman, said that her mother went on a holiday to Turkey to meet friends, however, during the holiday she became ‘seriously unwell’ and suffered a heart attack.
The grandmother was intubated and had to have an emergency triple heart bypass surgery in order to save her life.
Although her daughter rushed to be at her side, she then fell ill from pneumonia and had to be reintubated to rest her lungs. After five days the hospital were required to wake the grandmother, but she suffered from bleeding to her stomach muscles and was reintubated for a third time.
The family of a 79-year-old grandmother are pleading for help by the public to help them return her to the UK
Her daughter, Lucy Groves, worries for her mother who is alone in a ‘strange country’
Lucy revealed that she is now conscious but still critical and in intensive care in the foreign hospital.
She has only been able to briefly contact her mother three times through WhatsApp and worries that ‘she is alone in a strange country and not really aware of what’ she’s been through.’
The family initially believed that her insurance would cover the medical bills, which have racked up to £190,000, however, they were told that her policy is void due to not declaring a medical condition prior to the incident.
The family are ‘devastated’ and concerned for their mother as they ‘don’t have that sort of money to pay’.
Lucy set up a fundraiser and is ‘begging for any help no matter how small’ to get her mother home as the hospital cannot move her and will be holding her passport until £100,000 is paid.
She said: ‘As a family we are devastated and doing everything we can to try and pay in order to repatriated her back to the UK as soon as she is well enough to travel.’
To donate to the fundraiser, click here.
