A vulnerable Rangers fan who was stranded in a Spanish hospital for two weeks after collapsing on a flight ahead of the Europa League Final spoke of her joy yesterday after she returned home.
Sandra Aitken, who has suffered from a complex heart condition since birth, thanked the Daily Record for helping get her back to Scotland after 13 days stuck in Seville.
And the Gers fanatic revealed she was reduced to tears by the generosity of a selfless stranger - named Ger - who tried to help get her back home.
Sandra, who had only been due to spend two days in the scorching Andalusian city, said: "I don't even have the words to explain how I feel. I am so ecstatic.
"I'm home and that's all I care about. The air ambulance company, Reva, was superb.
"The treatment I received in Spain was excellent and I'm so grateful for everything they did for me in the hospital over there, they couldn't have been better.
"I have a rare complex congenital heart condition and there was a possibility I may have needed surgery.
"If I did, I wanted my own team to do it as it's so complex.
"Thank you too for everything. I know I'd still be in Spain if it wasn't for you."
We revealed last week that Glaswegian Sandra, 44, fell unconscious on a flight on May 17, the day before the match.
She had to be revived by airline staff after her Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt touched down at Seville Airport, as her horrified daughter Samantha looked on.
She was rushed to the city's Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena where Spanish medics ran "every test possible" before saying she could be discharged.
But they said that due to her heart condition and risk of another episode she could only return to Scotland in an air ambulance.
They said she had to remain in the hospital until an air ambulance was booked while her travel insurance firm, Staysure, tried to secure one of the specially equipped aircraft.
Sandra says she was discharged by the hospital last Monday, May 23, but it was a further eight days before she was brought home.
And she said the Staysure-booked air ambulance was only secured after she and her daughter made their own enquiries, spending hours phoning air ambulance companies to check if it was possible to bring her home.
She was picked up yesterday morning and brought back to Scotland yesterday afternoon - two weeks to the day after she left for Seville.
She was taken to Clydebank's Golden Jubilee University National Hospital, where she is under the care of Consultant Cardiologist Gruschen Veldtman, to be monitored before being allowed to return home.
After our story last week, Sandra was contacted on Facebook by Ger Marshall, Director of Giffnock-based travel agent Marshall Travel.
The big-hearted business woman, whose firm had chartered a flight to Seville, wrote: "Is there anything you need or assistance with getting home, we would be happy to help.
"If we can help either by a donation I'd personally be delighted to help you and your family in any way we can."
Sandra said: "It's been a total rollercoaster for two weeks and it's not taking much to make me cry.
"Ger's generosity was overwhelming. I couldn't even find the words to thank her for offering to help me.
"I was really down and it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but that reminded me there are so many good people out there who will go out of their way to help people they don't even know."
Sandra and daughter Samantha had been due to watch their beloved Light Blues taking on Eintracht Frankfurt at a special screening of the European final in Seville.
But they missed the showpiece tie, and also missed out on the Scottish Cup Final, instead only seeing the inside of the Seville hospital for two weeks.
They spent the fortnight in a ward, with only a curtain for privacy, with Samantha having to sleep on a chair bed.
A Staysure spokesperson said: "Staysure is happy to confirm Sandra Aitken has landed in the UK and is safely in hospital continuing her treatment.
"She was brought back by air ambulance this afternoon after Mayday was able to obtain all the medical information needed to deem her fit to fly.
"Staysure wishes her a speedy recovery and hopes she is able to go home to her family very soon."
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