Please help me: Scot stranded after heart attack on holiday

Retired train conductor John Ferguson collapsed two weeks ago during a family holiday in Costa Teguise in Lanzarote.

The 67-year-old, fromwick, Caithness, had suffered a seizure just a few days into a fortnight’s break with his wife Louise, 72, and their two adult children. He was rushed to a hospital and placed in an induced coma before being flown by air ambulance to a larger hospital on Gran Canaria, where it was discovered he had also had a heart attack.

But hospital authorities battling the coronavirus decided to release him last Tuesday after a stay in intensive care. Since then John, Louise and their daughter, Aislinn Mackay, have been housed at a nearby hotel as their insurance company battles to get them back to Scotland on an air ambulance.

Aislinn, 50, said they now face being asked to leave their accommodation as the Spanish government has ordered all hotels to be closed from Tuesday.

She said: “The whole thing has been a nightmare.

“We were on a day trip to Costa Teguise when dad suddenly sat down outside a café and didn’t look well at all.

“He clearly had suffered some sort of seizure and my brother r an to a nearby medical centre for help while we waited for an ambulance. Dad was given CPR and injections by medics. The whole thing was very frightening.” John was still in an induced coma when he was airlifted to Gran Canaria two days later. Aislinn said: “We were told that, as well as the seizures, dad had a heart attack.”

He r f a t h e r was relea s e d f r om hospital last Tuesday because medical facilities on the island were stretched due to coronavirus.

Aislinn said: “The insurance people have been trying their very best to get dad flown back to Scotland to see a neurologist but this requires that a doctor is on board the air ambulance. “The problem is that the medical services here are now under severe pressure and we have not been able to find a Spanish doctor who can do this. “Dad is very weak and the situation is taking a toll on us all. We don’t know what will happen if we have nowhere to stay, or when we can get home. My brother managed to get home on his scheduled flight with the intention of returning but now that is not possible. “Our best hope is that a doctor in the UK can agree to be flown over to accompany us back.

“We really hope there is someone out there who can help.”