OAP stuck in foreign hospital
● Company ‘drags feet’ on paying out for specialist transport home
BY JAMES DELANEY
An insurance problem has left a pensioner stranded in a Greek hospital following a fall on holiday.
Maysie Mcleod suffered a broken hip af te rt ravel ling to Lesbostoce lebra te her 90 th birthday with daughter Lesley. The family have been stuck on the island for more than two weeks after insurers Free Spirit were accused of “dragging their feet” on specialist transport home to Aberdeenshire.
A pension er has been left stranded in a Greek hospital following a fall after her insurance company failed to cover her travel home.
Lesley Mcleod hoped to celebrate mother Maysie’s 90th birthday in the sun on Lesbos on 4 May. However she suffered a broken hip around a week before the big day, leaving her requiring hospital treatment.
But the family have now been stuck on the island for more than two weeks after Lesley claimed insurers Free Spirit were “dragging their feet” on ar ranging specialist tr ansport home to Aberdeenshire. Doctors say Maysie must be transported via stretcher after undergoing surgery to insert pins, either by private jet or air ambulance.
However the company – who claim to be the first insurance cover to specifically cater for those who have been refused by other providers due to their health, disability or age – have been accused of attempting to avoid paying out, despite the ‘comprehensive’ £10 million coverage offered.
Lesley has now been forced to take leave from work to remain by her mother’s side until transport home can be arranged after she complained of bedsores and hallucinations.
She added Maysie had been left “distressed and confused” by the ordeal.
She told BBC Scotland :“As far as we can tell they don’t do anything about Mum’s case unless we constantly chase them up.
“All I can do is sit and watch my mother suffer, it’s heartbreaking. She is confused, unhappy and in pain at the moment. She needs to get home, but will have to travel by stretcher.
“Unless the insurance company send an air ambulance then the only way they get home would be a charter flight. Other wise we’d have to take several commercial flights to get back to Scotland, which she is not well enough to do.”
May sie suffered the broken hip on 27 April and has remained in the same hospital bed since.
Lesley said: “Her health is deteriorating – she is anxious and needs home. It’s horrible. This was meant to be some - thing special for her and it’s turned into an unimaginable nightmare.”
Emergency Assistance Facilities, who are handling the assistance case for Free Spirit, said: “We are sorry that the family is unhappy with our service. We are doing everything we can to get MsM cleod home as quickly and more importantly, safely as possible .”