A Rangers supporter who collapsed on her flight to Spain has been banned from flying home to Glasgow by Spanish doctors.
Sandra Aitken , 44, fell unconscious with a serious heart complaint as her plane landed at Seville Airport 10 days ago.
The mum from Glasgow had to be revived by airplane staff before being rushed to Seville’s Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, where she has remained since.
The Rangers fan then missed the Europa League final after doctors ordered that she remain in her hospital bed.
Spanish medics told Sandra that she couldn’t leave her ward or fly home on a regular flight – and now the mum is pleading with her travel insurer to bring her home via air ambulance.
Speaking from her hospital bed in Seville, Sandra told the Daily Record: “I just want home, I don’t care about anything else. My family is worried sick.”
READ MORE: CCTV appeal following serious assault outside a Glasgow nightclub
She explained: “When I was in the ambulance they told me I would be coming to the hospital for a couple of hours for observations – it’s now been 10 days.
“I missed the Europa League final. And it broke my heart on Saturday because I should have been at the Scottish Cup final as well – I had tickets for Hampden.
“I follow Rangers, that’s my only passion and I’ve missed two cup finals because of this.
“These are the first games I’ve missed in such a long time. I was crying my eyes out because I should’ve been at that game.”
Sandra flew to Andalusia with daughter Samantha for the tie against German side Eintracht Frankfurt.
They were due to watch the showpiece match with other fans at a special screening in the city.
But Sandra’s dream trip soon turned into a nightmare - and she blames insurer Staysure for her being “held hostage” in the Spanish hospital.
Sandra became unresponsive on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Seville last Tuesday.
Airline staff were forced to use a defibrillator to revive her, believing she had passed away. But she came to and was taken to hospital.
Sandra says she was officially discharged from the hospital on Monday, with medics saying she needed to get an air
ambulance back to Scotland.
But she said Staysure has yet to organise the transport, leaving her and Samantha sleeping in a hospital ward for five days after she was discharged.
She explained: “I had fallen asleep on the flight and my daughter couldn’t wake me up.
“My arms flopped down and my eyes were rolling into the back of my head. My daughter said they shouted, ‘No pulse,’ and they used a defibrillator.
“They think it was a life-threatening arrhythmia and they’ve said I’m at high risk.
“The hospital said they can’t let me go because they’re liable if anything happens. I’m really desperate.
"Staysure just keeps messing me about.
"Every day they said they needed more information from the hospital, then on Thursday night they said they didn’t need any more.
“But although they said they are in talks with air ambulances about getting me back, they still couldn’t give me a timeframe for getting home.
“They’re supposed to specialise in people with pre-existing medical conditions – that’s why I have to go with them.”
Sandra said she was told it may be another week before she can be brought home.
She added: “I’m stuck here with my daughter. Obviously I’ve got a heart monitor on so I can’t go for a shower.
“My daughter can’t get a shower either. We’ve had the same clothes on for a week, we are stinking. It’s humiliating.
“I’m in a ward with other people, which is nothing like back home – there’s absolutely no privacy, it’s degrading.
“My daughter is missing her work because she can’t leave me over here by myself.”
However, Sandra added: “The hospital staff have been great.”
The Foreign Office said: “We are supporting a British woman and her daughter in Seville.”
Staysure said: “We have spoken to the customer’s family and we are doing everything possible to help resolve this issue.”
