Sue Adams had jetted off to the beautiful Balearic island of Ibiza with her husband James Adams on August 29 for a week’s holiday in the sun, before things took a drastic turn for the worse
A British holidaymaker has been left fighting for her life in a hospital after she collapsed in her hotel bathroom from suspected heat stroke.
Sue Adams, 62, had jetted off to the beautiful Balearic island of Ibiza with her husband James Adams on August 29 for a week’s holiday in the sun. When the couple arrived, James said they spent their first day relaxing around the pool and went out for an evening meal before returning to their hotel room around 9.30 pm.
But when the dad-of-two heard a noise when his wife got up to go to the toilet at 4 am, he decided to go and check on her. To his horror, he says he found Sue unresponsive and lying unconscious on the bathroom floor with a swollen, bruised right eye.
Immediately, the 66-year-old put his wife into the recovery position and rushed to the hotel reception where an ambulance was called. Sue began to ‘convulse’ and was rushed to hospital for further treatment, including a full body scan which confirmed no internal bleeding.
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However, she had suffered from two small fractures – one in her face and one in her lower lumbar area. She was then put on a ventilator and kept under sedation to help with her recovery.
Sue has now been in an induced coma for three weeks and has had to fight off a lung infection. Doctors have told James that her kidneys are failing. The medics are trying to slowly bring Sue round from her sedation, but she will need a tracheostomy due to her time on a ventilator.
James said doctors are unable to determine the cause of Sue’s illness, but he believes a case of heat stroke caused her to faint, which in turn saw her hit her head on the bathroom sink.
While James prays for his wife’s speedy recovery, he is currently having to pay for accommodation, food, and transport to and from the hospital. James’ sons have set up a GoFundMe to help with the financial burden this has had on the pensioner.
James would be devastated to have to return to the UK without his wife and hopes he is able to raise enough funds to remain with her while she recovers. The Loftus, North Yorkshire man said: “I initially put it down to heat stroke. Sue is quite prone to dehydration in a hot environment and has fainted before.
“I did bring some hydration stuff with me for this reason but I failed to give her any in the evening. Looking back now on reflection neither of us drank enough on that first day in the sun so I thought it was probably down to dehydration.
“Dehydration doesn’t cause the seizure or convulsion but it may have caused her to pass out and become disoriented and dizzy. I think then when she banged her head severely, I think on the basin, this could have contributed to the seizure.
“It’s all assumptions. Equally, the bathroom floor was wet so she could have slipped on this. The incident was unwitnessed.”
James said Sue’s treatment is being paid for by the NHS after getting a temporary Global Health Insurance Card [GHIC] through the British consulate.
However, this does not cover any costs for him to remain in Spain for the duration of Sue’s treatment, which is setting him back around 60 euros per hospital visit and around 1,000 euros a week on accommodation next to the hospital.
James said: “There wasn’t an infection when she went in there, so it’s a bit of a mystery really. We are hoping to get her home sooner than October as it is costing me money to stay here. My biggest concern is, if I run out of money I will have to go home without her.
“We’re not a wealthy family by any means. I’ve got my state pension and some support from my family too. They’re supportive but it’s limited to what they can do. We started the GoFundMe to help me stay here [with Sue], but if we raise enough to get Sue back to the UK, that would be marvellous. I would be so relieved to get her home.”
You can donate to James and Sue’s GoFundMe here.