Briton trapped in US by £ 300k medical bill
A BRITISH woman has become trapped in the United States after falling ill and racking up medical bills of more than £ 300,000.
Denise Griggi, 63, travelled to California with husband Dario, 69, to visit their daughter Lucia, but had to be rushed to hospital shortly after landing.
She spent two weeks in intensive care in San Diego with a heart condition and is now stable.
But the couple have been hit with medical and care bills of £ 167,000 that are not covered by their insurance. And they have also been told a medical fl ight home will cost a further £ 150,000.
A desperate appeal has now been launched to try to raise the necessary funds to get Denise home to St Columb Major, Cornwall.
Family friend Victoria Walker said: “The family have exhausted all of their fi nancial resources and have recently found out that their travel insurance has been denied in the US. Denise’s husband Dario has been off work for a month with their daughter Lucia and they have both remained in the cardiac intensive care unit for the past two weeks.
“Dario will be forced to return to the UK to continue working so he can help provide for his wife the best he can. Unfortunately they have no support.
“Not only do they have a medical bill of well over $ 240,000 (£ 167,000) but the cost of keeping Denise in the US before she is medically cleared to fl y is growing.” Denise, who developed coronary heart disease 20 years ago but managed it successfully with medication, was struck with early stage congestive heart failure during the 10- hour fl ight on January 7.
She was in intensive care for two weeks and, although now in a stable condition, is too unwell to return home to the UK on a standard commercial fl ight.
Daughter Lucia and friend Victoria have set up a Go Fund Me page to help raise money to get Denise and Dario home.
So far they have raised more than £ 5,000 of their £ 175,000 target.
Victoria said: “I am asking for help for dear friends of mine, the Griggi family. My hope for this campaign is to raise enough funds to get Denise home to England.”
Denise is not the fi rst Briton to fi nd herself trapped in the US after running up huge medical bills.
In January 2015, Katie Amos and her fi ance Lee Johnston incurred a £ 90,000 medical bill after their baby son Dax was born 11 weeks prematurely.
The couple initially feared their insurance company would not cover their care as their planned four- day getaway was extended to seven weeks, but it eventually agreed to pay.