A couple have spoken of their upset after becoming 'stranded' in Dubai amid a row over medical bills they say total more than £11,000. Katriona White, 54, fell seriously ill - leaving her unable to walk - after she and her husband Mick, 54, travelled to the United Arab Emirates from India where he had been working as a football coach.
The couple claim they were assured by their travel insurers they were covered and would be reimbursed. They claim they were told later they weren't covered because of a 'technicality'. Barclays insurance bosses said: "Our travel insurance documents and the annual eligibility statements are very clear that all trips must start and end in the UK and last no longer than 31 days."
It means the pair have amassed medical bills totalling more than £11,000. Katriona is unfit to fly home because she has lost the use of her legs, while husband Mick can't travel until he has settled the medical bill. He says a hospital in Dubai has seized his passport until the bill is paid.
The couple's ordeal began shortly after the pair landed in Dubai from India, where Mick had been working as a football coach, on April 20. "After two or three days, she said she wasn't feeling very well when she was in the shower. She said she felt frozen up. All her hands had spasmed up," said Mick.
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Katriona was taken to a hospital in Dubai. Mick claims he was assured by his travel insurance the pair were covered under his policy, and would be able to reclaim any medical bills incurred. He said he had been paying £18-a-month into the policy for the previous 12 years without ever previously making a claim.
He said he paid £800 on his credit card to the hospital for medical checks they carried out, but then checked his wife into a hotel when he learned an overnight stay at the hospital would cost at least £4,000. Mick said he 'didn't have that kind of money' and medics at the hospital discharged his wife with some tablets. "They said after three or four days she would be OK," he told the Manchester Evening News.
After a few days in the hotel his wife complained of 'feeling weak' and Katriona went to a second hospital in Dubai, where more tests were carried out and doctors said she needed an MRI scan. On May 23, Mick said he received the news from his insurer in a phone call at the hospital that the couple weren't insured because their trip had started in India rather than the UK.
"I was just in shock, panicking. They said as of now I wasn't insured and I asked 'for the whole bill?', and they said 'yes'. As far as the hospital was concerned because I couldn't pay the bill they were kicking us out," said Yorkshireman Mick, formerly of Stockport and who spent two years coaching at Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
"I was panicking and anxious for my wife's health. She wasn't fit to fly. She still can't walk. She can't feel her legs," said Mick. The pair are now staying at a £20-a-night hotel in Dubai while the pair try to raise the funds they need to pay the outstanding medical bill. A friend has started a gofundme page which has raised £2,000.
Medics have not been able to work out what has caused Katriona's problems but have speculated it could be a problem with her spine, a virus or even cancer, according to Mick. Speaking from Dubai, he told the M.E.N: "I want to get my wife back to England so that she can get some treatment and get her on the road to recovery. She's sitting here and she needs treatment. She's struggling, I don't mind saying. She can't walk. She's run out of medication. We just want to get her back to the UK to get her sorted out."
Tearful Katriona, formerly a housing manager, said: "It's horrific. It's really bad. I can't believe I can't walk. I honestly can't believe it. I'm literally a disabled person." The couple haven't lived in the UK since 2015 when Mick began coaching abroad.
"We are at the end of our tether. We are stuck here and my wife can't walk. She's lost the ability in her legs," said Mick. A Barclays spokesperson said: "Our travel insurance documents and the annual eligibility statements are very clear that all trips must start and end in the UK and last no longer than 31 days. We have carefully reviewed our customer's case, and whilst we are very sympathetic to his position, unfortunately the trip could not be covered under the terms of our travel policy."
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