2 days Ago By [email protected] (Demi Koutouzi, Howard Lloyd)
A mum who kept her blood tests to herself for 'fear of worrying her hubby' is stranded on holiday in Kenya with liver failure - as her insurance will not cover the £80,000 bill. Lee Flint and her husband Jack Flint flew out to Kenya on September 16 to continue their life-long charity work there, as well as to celebrate Jack's cancer-free diagnosis. A few weeks after arriving in the East African country, the 77-year-old was found unresponsive in her bed and was rushed to the Mombasa Intensive Care Unit.
Doctors told Jack that Lee had suffered grade four kidney and liver failure and that her organs were shutting down and she remains in a critical condition with internal bleeding and blood poisoning. Despite the couple taking out insurance cover before setting off to Kenya, they are unable to claim it as Lee did not declare any pre-existing conditions. Lee's son Jamie Flint, 52, said that his mum had gone to the doctor's for a blood test and scan before the trip, but no one knew about it until she fell ill in Kenya.
Jamie believes his mum may have not mentioned her blood tests to her husband because she did not want to worry Jack as he had been going through chemotherapy and has only just been given the all-clear from his cancer battle. However, it meant that when Jack completed the holiday insurance forms, he was not aware of the tests - which have voided her insurance. The solar engineer has now set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money to fund the estimated £80,000 bill to fly Lee home, plus thousands more to cover her hospital fees.
Jamie, from Addlestone , Surrey, said: "After my dad had finished his chemotherapy and my mum was his main carer which took a lot out of her, they inevitably made a mistake on the insurance form. "A few months before that my mum had been to the doctor's (for some blood tests). My mum didn't want to stress my dad out, she kept it to herself.
But in the meantime she was becoming poorly and we didn't realise. My dad was filling out the insurance form on his laptop and made a mistake and that's why it's invalid. It's a living nightmare really.
"One day she was not responsive in her bed and they had no idea what happened. She has kidney and liver failure so her organs are shutting down. "I know she's got an internal bleed.
She had blood poisoning and that's what was causing her to fall in and out of consciousness. I was heartbroken and felt completely helpless. I told my dad I have to come out there.
"He told me to sit tight at home. I kept myself busy by ripping their bathroom out, so I was going to put in a disabled shower. That's when I thought they were coming home, but mum has got worse and worse.
I feel completely helpless, just because I am stuck in England. "My mum and dad did the question wrong over the phone or the laptop but my dad had just been really poorly with his chemo, my mum had been exhausted. She is a clever lady but she made a mistake.
My dad was more concerned about his insurance because he had just had chemo and cancer, he was more concerned about anything that might happen to him than my mum." The family say they do not know if Lee knew the results of her tests or not as she is now unable to speak. The couple had been doing charity work in Watamu, Kenya for more than 30 years, and tended to stay there for months at a time.
This time, they had arrived with 62 kilos of clothing and reading glasses to give to schools and orphanages. Jamie said: "In 1991 they went to a place called Watamu and were shocked with how little the people had, so they started sponsoring local schools and doctors. "They've been tirelessly doing charity work for 30 years, they go a few times a year.
My mum lived in Kenya for five years when she was younger, that is why she has a love for the country. "My parents have dedicated their lives to helping others and fundraising in the country they love." Jamie has raised more than half of the target amount through GoFundMe.
The dad-of-four said what's happened to Lee should be a warning to other travellers when taking out insurance. Jamie said: "Just be absolutely thorough when you do something like this, go over and over it again if you're elderly or have any past history of being poorly. "You've got to do it and you do feel a bit of anger during these companies, they are what they are, you have to do these things correctly.
I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. All I want is for my mum to come home but the hospital bills are extortionately high. "I am absolutely humbled by the people, I'm not great with social media but I feel completely humbled and blessed, it makes me almost cry when I think about it.
" You can donate to the fundraiser here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-save-my-mums-life-bring-her-home According to the NHS , liver and kidney failure is when a patient develops sudden and severe liver failure without a history of long-term liver disease.
In these cases, an urgent liver transplant may be their only life-saving treatment. Patients with end-stage liver disease can also develop kidney failure. This is often reversible with a liver transplant.
But some patients may need a combined liver and kidney transplant..
