A holiday turned into a nightmare proves to put one caravanner in a tough spot
Imagine the terrifying feeling of becoming ill in another country while you’re on holiday and you can’t go back home to be treated. This nightmare became a reality for a British man that was on a four-month caravan holiday in Spain with his wife.
Retired University IT worker, Chris Carr, 62, from Melksham, Wiltshire was on an extended holiday group trip with the Camping and Caravanning Club. The journey took a sad turn when, while visiting Benidorm, he began to feel unwell after a meal out. Carr then went to Hospital Marina Baixa, where he was diagnosed with food poisoning, but when he left and returned to his caravan his stomach swelled to four times its normal size.
Chris was immediately taken back to the hospital, where concerned Spanish doctors found he was suffering from a diaphragmatic hernia. Being a British citizen, the doctors advised him to go back to the UK – that has the best post-operative care – for the surgery and the consequential recovery, which could take weeks if not months.
Carr’s medical insurance company got right on the case phoning three hospitals near his home – Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bath’s Royal United Hospital and Swindon’s Great Western Hospital – but each hospital replied that they had no free beds available. This left Carr stranded in a Spanish hospital for 11 days waiting for a free room.
Sally Carr, 59, wife of Chris and a retired NHS midwife, spoke about the situation to the Mirror: “I feel extremely angry – I was furious when we were told about there being no beds. We’ve both worked hard all our lives and paid our taxes.
“Chris worked at the University for 35 years or more and I was a midwife for the NHS for 40 years. We’ve paid our taxes all this time and then for this to happen.”
She added: “The care here has been brilliant, it is back in the UK where there has been all the trouble.”
Concerned for Chris friends and family launched a campaign using social media to put pressure on the hospitals and even getting support from their local MP. The Get Chris Home campaign proved to do the trick, and Chris was given a bed, after an agonizing wait, at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset where he was flown to by air ambulance last Thursday (26 March).
Undoubtedly a horrible situation, we are just glad to hear our fellow caravanner is back home receiving proper medical treatment.
What do you think of this insane situation? Let us know your thoughts below.
