Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
A British university student “died for 25 minutes” in a US hospital after extreme sunburn at a summer camp.
Charlie Vincent, 20, flew to New Hampshire in June to work at a summer camp for children where he would be teaching six-year-olds how to canoe, but during his first day on the water he was badly sunburnt, resulting in second-degree burns on his legs.
Camp leaders took Charlie, a film student going into his third year at De Montfort University in Leicester, to a general hospital in the state where it was discovered that he also had patches of pneumonia on his lungs.
The youngster from Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, was operated on for the respiratory infection but during surgery he suffered a cardiac arrest, a mini-stroke, and his heart stopped for 25 minutes, according to his family.
Charlie’s 24-year-old sister, Emily Vincent, said doctors discovered Charlie had an enlarged heart, also known as cardiomegaly, which causes the heart to work harder than normal – a condition they suspected he could have had since birth – but it took “something like a respiratory infection” for it to present itself.
He spent around a week in an induced coma, with doctors fearing he would require an urgent organ transplant for his heart and both kidneys, but after a “miracle” recovery, this may no longer be required – although he may still need a heart transplant at a “much later date”.
Charlie and his parents were scheduled to fly back to the UK on Thursday on a medical flight to continue his recovery closer to home at Northampton General Hospital, where his family will also wait to hear if Charlie’s insurance, worth up to 500,000 dollars (around £390,000), will cover the cost of his US medical bill.
“At one point, I just couldn’t see a way that Charlie was going to make it, it was absolutely heart-breaking, it was hell,” Emily, who remained in the UK while her parents kept her updated on her brother’s condition from the US, told PA Real Life.
“It’s definitely a miracle that he’s still here, I think the hospital he has been in has given him the most amazing care and without that, I don’t think he would have made it.”
Emily added that she was “so excited” to see her brother “the minute” he returns to the UK, but mentioned the family may require financial help for the cost of his treatment and additional travel expenses.
After spending a few weeks in New Hampshire setting up for the intake at the children’s camp, Charlie started his duties on July 1, until things “deteriorated quickly” after his severe sunburn.
“I think on the first day it was, he got sunburnt really badly and he had second-degree burns all over his legs,” said Emily, a cabler for telecom company Openreach.
“Over the next few days he got worse, he must have had heatstroke and started to feel really poorly.”
The camp leader and Charlie decided it was time for emergency help, so he was taken to a general hospital in New Hampshire.
“That’s where they found he had pneumonia in his lungs,” said Emily.
“When they tried to operate, that’s when he died and it took them 25 minutes to bring him back to life.”
Emily said doctors were unsure how Charlie had contracted pneumonia but it was suspected his undetected heart condition had been made worse by the respiratory infection, causing a heart attack during surgery which prompted the mini-stroke.
Doctors managed to revive Charlie and he was transferred to a medium-risk hospital in New Hampshire where staff discovered his vital organs were failing.
After spending three days in two different hospitals, he was transferred to a third facility, Tufts Medical Centre in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was put in an induced coma for around a week.
“He had loads happen within the space of a few days,” Emily said.
“Once he had gone to the second hospital where they started to do more investigations, they told us he had an enlarged heart and the size of his heart continued to grow.
“They think this issue was something he would have had since he was a child but it took something like an infection to bring it out like that but we were none the wiser.
“He’s always been a healthy boy, he’s never showed any issues with his heart before, so it was just crazy to us for him to deteriorate so quickly.”
After the cardiac arrest, Charlie was put into an induced coma on life support for around a week, where Emily said he was “plugged into loads of different machines” to pump his vital organs, including his heart, his lungs, his liver and both kidneys.
At this point medical staff said he may need a triple organ transplant for his heart and both kidneys but the family were later told this may not be needed as his organs started to show signs of recovering.
“We were told he was in a critical condition, even the doctors were so scared for him, and having no one out there must have been terrifying for him,” Emily said.
“I was desperate to get out there, mum and dad were itching to get out there.
“My brother and me, we’re almost like twins – even though there’s a four-year age gap – he’s like my best mate.
“He is my rock and he always has been, so it was very difficult to think of a life without Charlie.
“It’s just been heart-breaking, the entire situation.”
Their parents, Joe and Sue Vincent, aged 47 and 50 respectively, flew out to be with Charlie after the first week he was taken into hospital and they have stayed with him since.
Over the last few days, the situation has improved to the point Charlie will be able to return to the UK on a medical flight, with his sister saying it is “looking really positive”.
“It has been a miracle in terms of how quickly he’s made a turnaround and the care the hospital has given has been incredible,” she said.
“He missed two lots of dialysis because his kidneys seem to be working much better by themselves now so they are hoping this is his kidneys restarting and they’re also hoping that his heart is starting to work a lot better by itself.
“He was initially walking around with a Zimmer frame but as of Tuesday, he did a few steps by himself so he’s getting stronger each day.
“He’s got four medications that he will have to take for his heart which should control whatever is happening – the doctors have said that maybe at a much later date he will need a heart transplant.”
Emily said her family do not know if Charlie’s insurance, worth up to 500,000 dollars (around £390,000), will cover his medical bill because of how “advanced” his treatment has been.
She added that the family have asked how much the bill would be but said the hospital appeared to be waiting for the end of treatment to produce a figure.
The family have set up a GoFundMe page to help with the cost of Charlie’s treatment and travel costs for his parents, which had raised more than £13,000 by the start of August.
