Brit teen critical in hospital after falling ill on holiday and facing £13k bill
A British teenager is fighting for her life in a Spanish hospital after she fell ill on holiday - and now faces a medical bill of over £13,000.
Bryony Duthie suffers from chronic kidney problems and had to be rushed to a private hospital on the Costa Del Sol, Spain, on Sunday.
There she was put into an induced coma after being diagnosed with pneumonia and suffering a seizure.
This all came after the 18-year-old from Dundee, Scotland, fell ill whilst out on holiday.
However, due to the “language barrier” her family claimed they didn’t understand how much treatment would cost and were horrified when they received a bill of £13,897.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
This was for just two nights in the centre and to make things worse, their insurance policy didn’t cover it.
Costs are expected to rise thousands of pounds for every single day due to the dialysis Bryony requires.
Bryony Duthie (right) suffers from a rare genetic condition and renal tubular acidosis - so her family did not initially fear for her life when her health took a turn (Gofundme)Speaking from the hospital in Benalmadena, her mother, Stephanie Duthie, 37, said: “We just presumed it was her (health) condition.
“My mum had to pay 3,000 euros (£2,600) right away.
“Obviously, there was a language barrier, because we thought it was going to cost 3,000 euros (£2,600) a day.
“But right now she’s critical and my main thought is keeping my daughter alive.”
Bryony’s suffers from a rare genetic condition and renal tubular acidosis. This occurs when the kidneys fail to properly remove acids from the blood.
She had been on a family holiday in Fuengirola, on the Costa Del Sol when her health suddenly took a turn for the worse and she was forced to miss her flight back home.
The Aberdeen family had been on holiday in Costa del Sol, southern Spain (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)Instead of flying back to Aberdeen on July 16 with her mum, she stayed behind with grandad Pete Duthie.
Whilst she was unable to walk, this wasn’t unusual for Bryony and she had experienced such symptoms in the past.
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But just as her mum got home, Pete called her in floods of tears to say Bryony had been rushed to the private hospital - so Stephanie flew right back to Malaga on Monday morning.
The family are trying to remain hopeful as Bryony has been admitted to hospital a number of times before.
Ms Duthie said: “They said her blood was really erratic.
“Her sodium levels were really high and her potassium levels were really low, and that is something that goes along with Bryony’s condition.”
When Bryony started making a “cackling” sound while breathing, doctors decided to carry out a body scan, which revealed what was really the matter.
“When the body scan came back they’ve seen something on her lung which turned out to be pneumonia,” Stephanie said.
This meant that Bryony’s blood medication was not working.
The mum continued: “The next minute she starts having a seizure and the medical staff took me out of the ward and I had to just sit there and wait.
“Obviously, some of them speak great English, but (with) some of them it’s quite difficult, so I’m using Google translate to try and establish what’s going on.”
A doctor informed her that Bryony had been put into an induced coma and placed on a ventilator.
Stephanie said: “The nurse had an honest conversation with me and said ‘We’re fighting for her, but the antibiotics are not fighting the infection like they should be’.
“So they put her on the maximum treatment and said ‘There’s nothing else we can do for her and there’s a possibility she might not make it’.”
Doctors decided to give Bryony dialysis in a bid to stabilise her blood levels and contain the infection, which her mother said appears to have worked.
“(On Tuesday) we went back to the hospital and her blood started to return to normal.
“The dialysis is what’s costing a fortune, but that’s what’s kept her alive,” Stephanie said.
The family thought they were covered by their insurance policy, only to discover it does not apply to their situation.
Out of “desperation”, Ms Duthie has also contacted a number of famous names on social media.
Ms Duthie said: “My daughter is where she needs to be but it’s costing an absolute fortune.
“Once she’s stable we can move her to a public hospital.”
Ms Duthie’s cousin, Brooke Coventry, has set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the climbing costs, and it has so far raised more than £15,000.
The family are now fundraising for Bryony's medical costs - click here to visit their page.
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