A Scots woman who fell ill in Dubai has been left trapped in the country unless she pays off an £11,000 medical bill.
Kat White, from Glasgow, and her husband Mick were on their way home after working in India for 12 months and decided to spend a few days in the United Arab Emirates to visit friends.
Days into their trip, the 54-year-old suffered a seizure in the shower on April 25. Husband Mick watched in terror as Kat experienced full body spasms, facial contortions and her hands curled back during the medical episode.
She was rushed to hospital to undergo numerous tests but the couple have been left penniless after discovering Mick's travel insurance, provided by Barclays bank, did not cover Kat for treatment in the Middle East.
They are now trapped after hospital bosses withheld Mick's passport until he pays a £6,000 portion of a payment plan towards Kat's hospital bill. He claims the UK embassy has failed to help, telling them "we're not a charity" and he has been forced to raise money with a GoFundMe page.
Mick, originally from Doncaster, said: "I don't know what to do, I feel like a prisoner."
"We got a few days into the trip to Dubai, she just didn't feel well. Then she suddenly had a full body spasm."
"She was in the shower and she was frozen stiff. I moved her to the bed but I couldn't even put her in the recovery position - her legs were frozen.
"I thought she was having a stroke. her hands had curled up and her mouth changed."
Kat was rushed to hospital and Mick claims they were taken "down to billing" before they carried out any tests or treatments. Within nine hours she had racked up a bill of £1,800.
Doctors then advise Kat would have to spend another night in hospital for more tests and a drip which would cost a whopping £3,000.
Unable to cover the costs, Kat was sent home with a batch of tablets and assurance she should feel better in four or five days. However, Mick went out shopping and came back to find Kat lying on the floor, having suffered another seizure.
Kat was readmitted to hospital and told she would need an MRI scan but medics couldn't see anything that could cause the seizures.
Mick said he heard a doctor say their insurance covered 'everything up until now' but any future treatments would have to be made by the couple.
Barclays bank travel insurance refused further charges because the specific trip did not start and end in the UK.
Their claim was not rejected during a previous trip to Saudi Arabia or when they first contacted their insurance company following Kat's episode - allowing them to claim for several treatments.
The couple have now been left with a £11,000 medical bill and Kat is unable to get on a plane without a fit to fly note.
Despite mounting charges, no one has been able to tell Kat what is causing the seizures.
Mick continued: "If you understand the mental anguish that my Mrs has gone through, I've seen it, I'm watching it. I'm trying to help her out, and I said to her today, 'we can guess what's wrong all day, but you need to be seen'.
"She had an MRI, but they came back and said the MRI was clear and that they couldn't see what the issue was. They said she might have a virus in her spinal column. That was pretty much the only diagnosis we got working with this."
Mick also said the level of care at the hospitals has not been great. "On one occasion, I walked into the room, and my wife was on the floor, and there's three orderlies around her," he explained.
"They've basically gone to catch her but not caught her and she's fallen. She was screaming saying 'just get me in bed please, I can't trust anybody but you'."
In one of the facilities, one of the patients "splashed blood" all over the walls.
He continued: "We're in the third hospital and it's £300 for a blood test and consultation.
"This place wasn't very nice. There's people with blood, splashing blood all over the place and onto other patients."
The 54-year-old said he felt like hospitals in Dubai were an "extortion racket" and they were "pressganged" into the treatments, many of which were unnecessary.
"Three or four doctors would come in and say 'she needs this, she needs that'.
"Sometimes my wife actually asked, is this something I really need?"
When asked how the embassy had helped the situation, Mick said they told him "we're not a charity".
According to the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office's website, it says they refuse to pay for costs like medical bills for British nationals abroad, adding that they provide advice instead.
The FCDO said: "We are providing consular assistance to a British couple in Dubai.”
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.”
To donate to the GoFundMe, you can do so here.
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