A mum returning from having brain surgery in Spain claims she was stopped by UK Border Force officials who accused her of drug smuggling.
Rachel Pighills, 36, was left at risk of being "internally decapitated" following a freak ceiling fan accident. She was moving into a new house in August 2018 when the whizzing blades of the fan smashed her on the back of the head.
The impact left her with atlanto axial instability and basilar invagination - meaning her brain was literally sinking into her spine. It meant she could no longer turn her head because each time she did her spine would partially dislocate, increasing the risk of paralysis or death.
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Rachel and husband Guy, 41, spent almost four years trying to raise £215,000 for pioneering surgery which is not available on the NHS. They finally reached the milestone earlier this year thanks to a woman in her 60s from Warwickshire who loaned them £130,000.
After being told it was too risky for Rachel to travel to Barcelona by plane for the operation, Guy drove her 1,055 miles in a second-hand ambulance. The 13-and-a-half-hour surgery on May 20 involved inserting metal rods into her spine and re-setting the position of her skull and brain stem.
The operation was a success and after almost four weeks in hospital, Rachel and Guy drove back to the UK on June 17. But after a 20-hour overnight ferry from Santander to Plymouth, they were stopped by Border Force officials who they claim accused them of drug smuggling.
Disturbing images show a sobbing Rachel lying on a stretcher while connected to an oxygen tank inside a warehouse at the docks. According to the couple, officials took almost four hours to complete their meticulous search of the ambulance before allowing the couple to continue on their journey.
Rachel and Guy, who have a 14-year-old daughter, eventually made it back home to their home in Worcestershire, where Rachel is now recovering. The mum-of-one said: “After all we’ve been through, after the operation we were so looking forward to coming home.
“When we arrived in Plymouth border force literally leapt on our vehicle and accused us of being drug smugglers. I couldn’t believe it. We had all the documentation but they wouldn’t listen. One of them was really rude and looked quite disappointed when they couldn’t find anything."
Guy, who had been forced to drive at just 40mph to avoid any sudden movements, comforted his wife while they were “treated like criminals”. He said: "We got spotted by border control and they stripped our ambulance to pieces. They were convinced we were smuggling drugs into the country and we were there for three and a half hours.
"They stripped the panels took the air panels off and shoved a camera everywhere and they found nothing. It was horrendous, it was painful for Rachel and it has affected her recovery and set her back.
"They asked her to get off the stretcher but we wanted her to stay which made them suspicious that we were trying to hide something.
"They made us wheel Rachel off the ambulance and bless her, she was screaming her head off when she was going down and then they stripped the ambulance and this affected her breathing and her oxygen levels due to the stress that this caused her.
"They made us wheel the luggage off. As soon as we propped her up and they could see the dressing all down her back the mood changed. But we didn't get an apology.
"It was the most traumatic experience I've ever been through. We are British citizens, we have paid our way our whole lives. It's a disgrace.”
Speaking of the painstaking operation at Teknon Hospital in Barcelona, Rachel added: "The recovery time for this operation is 12 months minimum. Dr Gilete showed us a picture of the operation and it looked like a shark attack, which shows how severe it is.
“I’ll be doing physiotherapy every day to regain my strength. I’ll always have to turn from my hips but my one goal is to take the dogs for a walk with my family.”
The couple are now raising money to pay back the £130,000 loan and their GoFundMe page can be found here.
UK Border Force were approached for comment but had not responded by the time of publication.
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