E.coli victim feeling better after returning home
A DESPERATELY ill teacher who was stuck in a Turkish hospital until her family raised more than £30,000 to fly her home, has told how she is already feeling better.
Caroline Hope, 37, from Clydebank, feared she would die from E.coli after complications emerged during a surgical procedure to treat her colon cancer.
She finally arrived in Glasgow on Saturday night after her family and friends’ crowdfunding appeal for a private medical evacuation by air ambulance raised more than £32,000.
Ms Hope was taken to the city’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where her condition is being evaluated.
Speaking to the BBC, she said that knowing she was not alone and that her family were close, had given her a “huge boost”.
She also paid tribute to her “great team of doctors” who were trying to find out what treatment she needed.
Her brother Scott Hope, who has stayed behind in Turkey, thanked fundraisers.
Speaking before her flight, he said: “It has been a very emotional day.
“Caroline was relieved and so happy this morning, she kept asking when the plane was coming and we had to keep saying we’re just waiting for it to land.
“We were absolutely overwhelmed by the crowdfunding campaign, within two and a half days we had completely smashed our target of what we had hoped to get.
“The way everyone came together around the work to send love and support and best wishes was unbelievable.”
Fundraisers rallied round after Ms Hope told of her fears that she would die miles from home. At one point she pleaded for help from her hospital bed, saying: “Don’t let me die in Turkey. I haven’t got the energy to get up and it’s a struggle even to breathe.
“I just want to be back in Scotland, where my family can be close by and I can be treated by Scottish doctors. I do not want to die in a Turkish hospital.”
Ms Hope, an English teacher, had been living in Turkey for four years.
She was diagnosed with a blood clot in her lung in January, however tests detected lesions in her liver and cancer of the colon.
She had chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free. However a recent hospital procedure on her liver led to her contracting E.coli, and she was left fighting for her life in Medical Park Hospital in Izmir.
Strict rules around repatriations for medical reasons meant her family faced massive costs to fly her home by private air ambulance.
Mr Hope, who has remained in Turkey to sort out his sister’s affairs, said his mother was waiting for her at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where she is now being treated.
Meanwhile, his wife Pauline, who lives in South Africa, said the family was overwhelmed by the response to their appeal. She said: It’s just an amazing, overwhelming feeling. It’s just been a really tough couple of months.
“She was very excited to be going back to Glasgow and to have her friends and family around to support her.
“Scotland is the most incredible nation. We were just very lucky to have the support that we got.”
In a message on the JustGiving crowdfunding page, Ms Hope’s friend, Bella Shek, who launched the campaign, wrote: “Thank you so, so, so, so much to everyone who has donated to get Caroline home.
“On behalf of Caroline, her family and all her friends, the support from all of you and the general public, many of whom have never met Caroline before has been truly overwhelming.”
She had planned to return to Scotland and her employer had taken out medical insurance to cover her stay at the Turkish hospital until the end of July.