Anish Vij
A British tourist is being kept in Greece on a ventilator after a £14,000 mistake involving his holiday insurance.
Alan Kirby, from Somerset, started to look 'dreadful, grey and pale' after feeling a pain in his side while out for dinner with his family in Zante on 5 July.
The car valeter, 67, who had been playing with his stepdaughter's children in the sea, woke up struggling to breathe and decided to book himself in with the doctors.
They advised him that he should go back to the UK for a biopsy on a mass in his lung as they feared it could be cancer.
Advert
However, before Alan could get himself on a flight home, his condition got worse and he was eventually put on a ventilator to help with his breathing.
He was airlifted to a private hospital in Athens, and doctors told the family that they got in touch with his insurance company who claimed Alan was aware of the mass, telling him that it was a benign fatty tissue.
But given that it was a pre-existing medical condition, which hadn't been declared to insurers, it invalidated his health cover abroad.
This meant that the family were left with a £14,000 hospital bill.
Advert
At the moment, Alan remains on a ventilator - covered by his Global Health Insurance Card - and is too unwell to fly home on a normal flight.
The only way he can get home is by a £45,000 private medical flight, which isn't covered by his insurance.
Alan's stepdaughter Liza Whitemore, 40, said: "We know we’ve made the mistake [with the insurance] - that’s the problem.
"My mum had gone into the bank that she had insurance with and they said, 'just go on holiday, you don’t have to do anything'. They didn’t know about the mass.
Advert
"And he was well before - he was working as a car valeter the day before the holiday."
Alan was just three days into his trip with his partner Helen Whitemore, 62, Liza and her three daughters, when he fell ill.
He was moved to Athens’ General Hospital, where his care is covered by his GHIC card.
Liza, a private care assistant, explained: "The insurance didn’t know about it.
Advert
"He’s still on a ventilator. There’s a talk about him going into a coma, but we don’t know if it’s cancer or pneumonia doing the damage.
"He’s fine, then he’s not, he’s fine, then he’s not.
“He’s really breathless - on the phone he can’t say more than a few sentences.
“We’re just desperate to get him home."
Advert
His family are now back in Somerset and are trying to raise £45,000 via GoFundMe for his return.