Relatives’ stranded
FAMILY ARE DETERMINED TO RAISE £50K TO PAY OFF BILLS
TWO children at the centre of a transatlantic parental battle must leave their mother in England and return to their father in the United States, a judge in London has ruled.
The youngsters, who are aged 15 and 11, found themselves at the centre of a legal fight after their mother became involved with another man and their parents’ marriage broke down.
Deputy High Court judge Susan Jacklin heard that the children had been born and brought up in Britain, and lived with their parents in northern England.
A dispute developed last year after their mother became involved with another man and their parents’ relationship broke down.
They had stayed in England with their mother, after returning for a holiday, and their father had begun legal action and asked Judge Jacklin to order their return to Virginia.
Judge Jacklin has ruled in his favour.
She said a judge in Virginia would make decisions about the children’s future.
Detail of the case has emerged in a ruling by Judge Jacklin after a private hearing in the Family Division of the High Court.
The judge has not identified the family involved. Reporter RELATIVES of a great-grandmother have flown to Mexico in a desperate bid to bring her home after she was left trapped in a hospital with £50,000 of medical bills.
Joyce Kettle had to be airlifted to a hospital in Cozumel, a holiday island near Cancun, from a cruise ship after suffering from breathing difficulties.
The 74-year-old underwent an emergency heart operation on Monday which required three stents, her family said.
Joyce’s medical bills have reached a staggering $72,626 – or £51,150 -– without the doctors’ fees but her holiday insurance only covers European trips.
Her family launched an online fundraising appeal to help pay for the costs, which has so far raised more than £13,400.
Now, Joyce’s youngest daughter Leanne and her partner Les Chrisp have flown out to Mexico to coordinate efforts to get her home.
A post by Leanne on the fundraising page said: “Les and myself are flying out to Mexico to be reunited with Joyce and in an attempt to progress the situation with the hospital face-to-face. “We’ve also spoken to TUI and finally had some wonderful progress in the form of travel arrangements after meeting local MP Ronnie Campbell who made contact with TUI. “A huge thank you to Ronnie for helping speed things up with this as we were hitting a brick wall repeatedly previously.” Leanne said she was relieved to find out Joyce is being cared for in hospital and is safe after speaking to her in a video call. “It was a rather emotional call for both Joyce and us as you’d imagine, but Joyce is looking well and just wanting to get home as you’d expect,” she added. “We’d like to (again) thank everyone for the unbelievable emotional and financial support we’ve received in this difficult time. It is at times Daughter Leanne