A woman hospitalised while on holiday in Spain says she has been forced to miss vital cancer treatment - and is no closer to knowing when she will be able to get back.
Kelly and partner, Andrew Timms, along with her parents Trevor and Leslie Haughton, travelled to Tenerife on a long-overdue break, just before the latest round of Kelly’s cancer treatment began. However, an idyllic getaway has turned into a 'nightmare', after Kelly’s health took a turn for the worse and she was forced to go to hospital on the Spanish island.
Now relying on insurers May Day Assistance to provide an air ambulance to get home, the family have seen one flight cancelled on Friday (August 12). To make matters worse, the rescheduled flight - set to leave today (August 15) - has also been shelved, the Mirror reports.
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Now on their 17th day in limbo, the family are at their wits' end as Kelly is stuck in a hospital where partner Andrew said she feels “abandoned” by nurses and has been left lying in her own wee. The family won't be able to fly Kelly back until a space opens up in hospital in the UK, May Day have claimed, but they have no idea when this might be.
Meanwhile, Andrew and Kelly’s parents have forked out over £6,000 collectively and bounced between three hotels as they do their best to support her. They are hoping their insurance will help with the costs.
Kelly was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that affects the body’s soft tissue, back in November 2019. That, and the onset of the Covid pandemic pushed back their holiday originally, which was delayed again when the cancer returned in September 2021.
More recently, after rounds of chemotherapy, the rare cancer began affecting 39-year-old Kelly once more, leading to her being set up for another round of treatment, which was due to start last Tuesday. After fighting her cancer so bravely for so long, the family booked a getaway in Tenerife from July 29 to August 5, meaning they would’ve been back in good time.
But on the second day of the holiday Kelly began screaming in agony. Andrew, 56, said: “This seven day holiday has turned into hell - we’re on our sixteenth day. Kelly became poorly on the second day of her holiday so we got a doctor out but she started screaming so we got to hospital.”
However, Kelly’s ongoing time in hospital was described as a 'nightmare' by her partner who said she often called them crying in the morning.
“Some nights she’s just abandoned on the bed and she’ll press the button and no one will appear,” Andrew claimed. “She has to have a bedpan which is demoralising and they don’t come straight away and she makes a mess on the bed and she rings us up in the morning crying in a state and we come over and they say we can’t come in, and we say 'no we are coming in'.”
Kelly has a prosthetic leg after doctors had to amputate it following complications when they removed a tumour at the top of one of her legs.
Now the family are trapped abroad however, having to continually rearrange their flights home as they desperately wait for an air ambulance thanks to what they think is further complications with the sarcoma.
However they aren't certain and have found the Spanish hospital dreadful at communicating. They were originally told the air ambulance was ready to fly them out on Friday August 12, but the family only found out that had been cancelled when Andrew rang up.
They have since been in contact with the British consular locally who are trying to support them but have forked out over £6,000 collectively and moved through three hotels since the horrific nightmare began. Then on August 14 they were called by their insurers, May Day Assistance, and told that it wouldn't be taking place because there were no beds free.
This means the family don't know when Kelly will finally be flown home so she can begin her cancer treatment. A spokesperson for TUI said: "We’re very sorry to hear about Mrs Timms’ experience and understand how distressing it must be.
"We’re aware that Mrs Timms’ travel insurance provider is now in contact with her and our team in resort remain on hand to support the family in any way we can."
May Day Assistance has been approached for comment.
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