A British mother of four is facing the possibility of arrest after failing to pay £22,000 in medical bills following a heart attack while on holiday in Morocco. Collette Robinson, 58, from Manchester, was staying at the Valeria Madina Club Resort in Marrakesh with a friend when she began feeling unwell by the pool. After vomiting, she was rushed to Clinique Averroès, where doctors discovered she had suffered a heart attack and promptly fitted her with a stent.
The heart attack occurred on February 11, and Collette, who is still hospitalized, now faces the overwhelming challenge of raising £22,000 to cover her medical costs. Her son, Jack, 30, revealed that they had offered to pay the sum in monthly installments but were told by doctors that Collette would be arrested unless the full amount was paid in a lump sum, reported by the Express.
Heartbroken, Jack shared his frustration: “I’ve compared the prices in Morocco and I’ve never seen anyone pay that much for this. She keeps having the threats of getting arrested. I have been in tears this whole time, normally you can fix things but I can’t fix this one.”
Collette had an ongoing travel insurance policy, but it lapsed because she failed to update it after suffering a heart attack last year. This oversight means she must pay for the treatment out of her own pocket. Jack explained that his mother had been in good health before her holiday and never expected to face such a significant medical bill.
“Her health is on the mend – I mean she’s not exactly going to run a marathon soon. But now it’s the mental side of things because they just want to let her home. She used to travel quite a lot and she has a travel insurance policy where she has always got cover. But she had a heart attack in September 2024 and I don’t know why, but she didn’t put that on. My mum just wanted to go on holiday – she didn’t even think about it,” Jack said.
Unable to visit his mother due to financial constraints, Jack explained that he did not want to waste money traveling to Morocco if she wasn’t able to come home. “I can’t go over there until I know I can go and take her home. I would only be able to go for a week and then I would have to come home, so I don’t want to be wasting money,” he said.
The Robinson family is now scrambling to find a way to pay the medical bills and bring Collette back home.
