Carol could be coming home soon
£15K RAISED FOR WOMAN IN HOSPITAL FOLLOWING COLLAPSE
A GRANDMOTHER fighting for her life in Spain after collapsing while on holiday could soon be coming home after a fundraising campaign neared its target.
Carol Tweedy, from Blakelaw, was celebrating her 70th birthday with her family in Majorca when she fell ill on May 29.
She had travelled to the resort three days earlier with her family including partner Bryan Harding, her son Michael Tweedy, daughter Sarah Burleigh and their partners.
However, she collapsed in their hotel lobby and was taken to hospital, where she was initially diagnosed with pneumonia but went on to suffer a stroke and also a bleed on the brain.
The grandmother is continuing to fight for her life in intensive care but her family want to bring her back home to Tyneside.
They say representatives for their insurance company, Alpha Travel Insurance, told them they were looking into Carol’s medical records but have not yet organised a flight home or paid out cash.
On Thursday, an online fundraising campaign was set up with a target of raising £15,500 to bring Carol home on a private air ambulance. And, to the delight of Carol’s family, donations flooded in and £15,000 was raised in under three days.
Now, if she remains stable, Carol could be home by the end of the week. Debra Hodgson, Michael’s partner, of Wallsend, said: “We just want to say how absolutely blown away and overwhelmed we are by the kindness people have shown it’s really hit our hearts.
“We don’t know the people donating but they have been so kind. We just want to say thank you.
“Carol has to be stable for another few days before we can fly her home so, we’re just waiting for a further few days for her to hopefully carry on being stable and then we will be able to arrange for her to be flown by air ambulance by the end of the this week.
“We didn’t expect to raise so much so quickly, we though we might raise a couple of grand, if we were lucky, so we were unsure when we would get her home. But, for this amount to be raised in under three days, is just brilliant and we can start making plans.”
Debra said that the plan is for Michael to fly with his mother in the air ambulance, while Sarah and Bryan will travel back separately on a normal flight.
The family says Spanish doctors told them the best thing for Carol was to get her home to a British hospital where she can be surrounded by friends and family.
However a spokesperson from Emergency Assistance Facilities, on behalf of Alpha Travel Insurance, said: “We are aware of Mrs Tweedy’s admission to a hospital in Spain and understand this is a distressing time for her family.
“Our emergency team are liaising with the hospital and doing everything they can to ensure Mrs Tweedy gets the best possible treatment and care. Unfortunately, we are unable to release specific details surrounding this claim due to data protection restrictions.
“However, in response to your concerns, please be advised our medical team are working with the patient’s best medical outcome as priority.
“We are comfortable that this has not been compromised at any stage. This is a complex case and we will not make any decisions that in the opinion of our travel and aviation medical specialists could add further complications to Mrs Tweedy’s recovery or general health. It is important that customers declare all of their medical conditions so we can accurately assess the risk and ensure cover is correctly provided. Where customers do not disclose medical conditions it can cause us to take longer validating cover.
“We appreciate that Mrs Tweedy’s friends and family are keen for her to return to the UK which we will fully support at a time that is medically appropriate. We never put our customers in situations which could lead to unnecessary risk.”
To make a donation to the family visit www.gofundme.com/wu9ufq-get-mum-home.