Edinburgh couple left with staggering £87,000 medical bill after holiday nightmare
An Edinburgh couple’s dream holiday in Cape Verde quickly turned into a nightmare after a medical emergency left one in hospital and the couple facing an £87,000 bill.
Portobello couple Bazz Granger and Janie Morris travelled to the island off the coast of West Africa on February 27 for what was meant to be a holiday of a lifetime.
Looking for a warm getaway during the colder months, the couple of 10 years booked what they expected to be a ‘really nice relaxing break’ – but the morning after landing on the island, Bazz’s health took an unexpected turn for the worse, with the 43-year-old later suffering a stroke.
The couple were getting ready for the day in their hotel room and making breakfast plans when Bazz ‘suddenly got this splitting pain in his head and was really dizzy and was vomiting’.
After being rushed for treatment at a nearby hospital, Bazz’s partner Janie then learned they had accidently bought the wrong insurance policy, meaning they faced a staggering bill of around £87,000 for treatment and to return Bazz to the UK.
Janie said: “He was really struggling to talk, only saying one word at a time like ‘help, Janie, pain’ - that's all he could really say. When he got to the hospital his mouth dropped and he didn’t have any feeling in his right side.
“My mum died of a stroke so my first thought was that Bazz had had one, but I also thought I was just being over sensitive because of what had happened to my mum the year before.
“But then the doctors in Cape Verde said that it wasn't a stroke and that the CT scan was clear and that it could just be a really bad migraine. At the time I wanted to believe them so much, but it always just seemed to me like it was worse than that.”
Bazz had a second CT scan 72 hours later and was treated at a private clinic for several days before being taken back to the UK via air ambulance, arriving in Edinburgh on March 7. Once at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh it was confirmed that Bazz had a dissection of his ventricular artery and that had caused a stroke in the back of the right side of his brain.
Janie said: “On Monday we had the first assessment with physiotherapy and occupational health and they were able to get him to sit himself up on the side of the bed, which was obviously really, really great to see because up until that point, he's been unable to really do anything at all for himself.
“So it does feel like we're now kind of starting to try and work out what he needs and how we're going to get him there and starting to see what the picture is going to be for him in the future.”
Bazz, who is self-employed and operates his own furniture making and restoration business, is now being treated at the stroke ward. A GoFundMe setup by Janie’s best friend helped to cover the £8,500 clinic fees in Cape Verde – but this is ‘sadly just a drop in the ocean’ when it comes to paying for Bazz’s repatriation flight.
Janie said: “Initially the insurance company said there was nothing they could do for us and they wouldn't help, but obviously I continued to push for help. They finally agreed to up front the cost and send me a contract confirming that we would be liable for the cost. The invoice for the air ambulance was 90,000 euros.
“Obviously I signed it straight away - I would have signed anything at that point. I just needed to get him back and I felt like everything else could be worried about later.”
The fundraiser has seen generous donors help the couple towards the staggering bill, with around £18,500 raised so far.
Janie said: “It's truly incredible. It's such a huge bill that and the way people have rallied around is overwhelming - we're really grateful. I'm absolutely blown away. I could cry every time I think about it or talk about it. People have been amazing, and it's just so incredible that there's so many people out there willing to help us.
“It was our mistake to not check we had the right insurance policy, so the fact that people can see past that and understand the situation is just truly phenomenal.
“It was terrifying when we were initially told they needed all the money up front. I was completely helpless. I told them I can sell my flat but I obviously can’t do that straight away and Bazz has to come home. That’s when my best friend Claire started a GoFundMe.
“At first I thought I can't beg for help, but then immediately, I just thought I have to. There's no option here, and it was an absolute panic. I also didn’t want to worry Bazz so I told him ‘don’t worry, I’m dealing with it’.”
Janie added: “At the moment Bazz is very lucid and I'm so thankful for is that he seems himself and he doesn’t seem to have any cognitive problems. It's physical motor skills that are affected. He is able to talk about what he needs and what he wants, which is really reassuring.
“But of course, mostly what he's worried about is work and his customers and things like that. So we're just doing our best to try and reassure him and arrange to get his work taken care of with other furniture makers we know.”
You can donate to Bazz’s fundraiser by visiting the gofundme website.