A mum who contracted a lung infection days into a holiday in Gran Canaria is now stuck on the island after falling seriously ill - with her family unable to afford the bill to fly her home. Karen McIntee, 58, and sister Isy Macleod had not been on holiday for long when Karen began to feel ill.
Karen went to her room to rest, but when Isy checked on her Karen was unconscious and not breathing. Isy began CPR and got someone to call the emergency services. When Karen was admitted to hospital, medical staff discovered she had contracted an infection in her lungs. She was critically ill, and the doctors decided her best chance of recovery was to put her on a ventilator, and into a medically induced coma, reports DevonLive.
Isy said: “I had to make the most difficult phone call of my life, and let Karen’s daughter, Emily know how sick her mum was. She flew over straight away, and spent her birthday at her mum’s bedside. The doctors told us that the outcome wasn’t very positive.
"We refused to believe this was the end for her, and all of you who know her, know she’s a fighter, and that’s exactly what she did. In the space of a month, Karen’s been woken from her coma, and now she’s completely free of the drugs that were keeping her asleep. She’s had a tracheostomy and is still on a ventilator, and all she wants to do now is go back home.”
Karen’s hospital medical bills have been paid, but she will need a private air ambulance, with a doctor and nurse looking after her, to get home.
Daughter Emily said: “She was told she had pneumonia and was put into a medically-induced coma and on a ventilator for two weeks. The hospital she remains at has been absolutely amazing and they have woken her up, and have reduced her medication.
"She now has a tracheostomy which is still a ventilator and she is unable to talk, the language barrier is very difficult and we are having to use Google Translate. We just want her home and the only way this can happen is by air ambulance repatriation, so she can continue her recovery."
The family has set up a fund to get Karen home. You can donate here
