Trapped gran to fly home
A US hospital has come to the aid of a Glasgow gran who was stranded in Florida.
Lorraine Romeo, 55, had been facing a medical bill of £100,000 after her insurance firm disputed her claim when she fell ill on holiday.
But now the hospital has agreed to foot the bill.
A GLASGOW woman who has spent almost two months in a Florida hospital in a row over her insurance is to fly back to the UK in days.
The Evening Times told yesterday how Lorraine Romeo’s dream trip to the US turned into a nightmare after she fell ill with flu days into the trip and ended up in intensive care.
While the 55-year-old’s condition has now stabilised, she was left facing a medical bill of more than £100,000 because there is a dispute over her insurance claim.
However, the family have spoken of their relief and gratitude after bosses at the Dr P Philips hospital in Florida agreed to foot the bill to allow Lorraine to come home.
Doctor P Philips agreed to front up the cost of a nurse to accompany Lorraine, who is originally from Royston, on the flight back to the UK, as well as the medical equipment she requires, including a supply of oxygen.
Lorraine’s son Malcolm, 23, who is with his mother in Florida, set up a fundraising page to help raise the cash and has said he would be contacting Justgiving to refund all the money to donors.
He said: “We are in a much better position today.
“Yesterday a social worker came to see my mum and said that the hospital are going to pay for the nurse and the equipment to get her on the plane.
“It could be in the next few days hopefully. We don’t know if they are just going to add this to medical bill but, to be honest, if it gets us home, I’m happy. We can think about that later. We just want to be back on UK soil.
“I’m going to contact Justgiving and arrange for all the money to be refunded to people who made donations. My mum had suggested we donate the money to charity.
Lorraine, who lives in the Suffolk area, flew out to the sunshine state on December 19 with close family, including her six-year-old grandson Marley. She suffers from the lung condition emphysema and started to feel unwell around eight days into the holiday. She was taken to hospital and doctors diagnosed Influenza B.
The family say she disclosed her medical history, fully, to the insurance company, World’s First, and say they could not have foreseen that she would contract flu but the company has so far refused to say if it will settle the claim.
The company has said Ms Romeo’s case is “complex” and it is still to conclude an investigation, which is understood to have been prompted by the financial ombudsman.