Millie Bayles’ dream holiday to Rhodes, Greece with her friends turned into every parent’s worst nightmare after an ‘ear infection’ turned into something far more serious
A girl has been left fighting for her life after being struck down by meningitis on holiday in Greece, leaving her family with a £40,000 bill to get her home.
Millie Bayles, 19, is in intensive care at an Athens hospital after jetting out on the sunshine holiday to the island of Rhodes. But the teenager failed to take out travel insurance when she went away with her friends for the summer break. Her family say she first noticed symptoms of an ear infection – but it turned into something much more serious.
Millie, of Garth near Llangollen, North Wales, was later diagnosed with bacterial meniningitis. She was moved 300 miles from the island to intensive care in the Greek capital.
Her family travelled to be by her side as she battled the deadly brain infection and it was just the start of their nightmare.
Her mum Lauren Murphy received a quote for tens of thousands to get her home and to pay medical bills.
The parent has been left no choice but to turn to the public for help to pay for her treatment, including a private medical emergency flight, after being given the eye-watering quote.
Lauren said: “We are now at the stage where we can look to bring Millie back to the UK. She is out of immediate danger but she has a long road to recovery ahead of her.
She is still only semi-conscious and we have yet to see how badly this illness will have affected her brain in the long term.
“Unfortunately due to being an invincible young person, Millie neglected to take out any holiday insurance and so we have to fund her medical flight home privately. We desperately need help to get our girl back to her home country so she can continue her recovery process.”
The family have reached their £40,000 target on their appeal with more than 900 donations from family, friends and even strangers – and hope to get Millie home soon.
Step-father Pete Murphy said: “I am so overwhelmed by the immediate generosity of all of you lovely people and plenty that are certainly not on my friend list.
“Myself, Lauren and Millie are so grateful for your kind donations. Millie has got a long battle ahead but she certainly has a lot of people routing for her and we can’t thank you enough for that.”