A frail British granny who refused travel insurance for a trip to Florida then fell seriously ill is even sicker and now needs around $100,000 to get home .
Patricia Bunting, who was on a three-week vacation in Florida with her grandson and her two sons, is still fighting for her life in Orlando’s Dr. P. Phillips Hospital. The cost of getting her back to the UK now sits at at least $101,000 (£80,000), up from the initial $63,000 (£50,000) sought by her family.
‘She is battling a second bout of bacterial pneumonia, for which she is being treated with IV antibiotics, has suffered a gastrointestinal bleed (which thankfully she has now recovered from) and also blood clots in her legs,’ her daughter, Emma Bunting, wrote in a December 14 update on the GoFundMe page she started.
Emma added that her 76-year-old mother is still on continuous oxygen, with her blood oxygen levels fluctuating between 80 percent and 90 percent.
A healthy blood oxygen level is 95 percent to 100 percent, according to the Mayo Clinic. Based on her diagnosis, Patricia could be dealing with symptoms of mental confusion and a rapid heart rate.
Emma didn’t make the initial trip to Disney but is now in the United States with her mother to help manage her care.
She said she is waiting for an estimate from the hospital on how much her mother’s care will cost. Hospital staff have also been assisting the Bunting family with medically assisted flights to take her home to England.
Patricia priced travel insurance for her 20th trip to Disney – her ‘happy place’ – but was quoted a price of £3,000 ($5,000) because of her underlying conditions and ruled it too expensive.
In her current condition, Patricia can’t fly home on a normal passenger plane. She’d need a bed, oxygen and medical assistance while in the air.
So far, the GoFundMe has only raised £28,105 (about $35,600) toward a £50,000 goal.
There are two reasons the family is so eager to get Patricia home. Obviously, she would feel more comfortable getting treatment where she lives in Wigan, around 22 miles from Manchester.
But Patricia would also benefit financially from being in her home country, since her all further treatment would be covered for free by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS).
Emma thanked the GoFundMe’s supporters for their donations, kind messages and prayers, adding that she hopes to have ‘a plan solidified early next week.’
Patricia had saved for the last two years to be able to go with her family to Disney World, which she called her ‘happy place.’
She was keen to make this trip because she knew her declining health would soon make that impossible.
Patricia currently uses three different inhalers to ease her breathing difficulties which is caused by a chronic pulmonary disease, and she relies on a walker.
On her 20 previous trips to the US she had purchased travel insurance. But this time couldn’t afford the $3,000 cost quoted due to her severe health issues, a decision that proved to be a terrible mistake.
After making the ten hour flight from her home in the UK in late October, she enjoyed three weeks in the sun before complaining of exhaustion on November 23.
The family had been set to return five days later but had to rush her to the hospital after she was found passed out in the bathroom.
She spent the next five days in intensive care with Covid and then pneumonia, having refused to be intubated over fear she would not wake up.
Her sons and grandson had to take their scheduled flight home on November 28 after running out of money, despite Patricia being in intensive care.
That’s why Emma, her daughter, went straight to Florida to make sure her mother was okay.
Speaking with The Tampa Bay Times, Emma said: ‘She’s scared of passing away in a U.S. hospital far from her family.
‘I want nothing more than to have mum home for Christmas so she’s surrounded by all the love of her family.’
The family have sought the help of the UK Embassy in Miami who they say only asked how they planned to pay for their medical bills.
Emma continued: ‘I feel anxious. I don’t know how much this will cost but I know she need this care.’
The family told the outlet that the hospital had helped them with low-cost accommodations.
The Bunting family’s brush with American healthcare comes at a time when natives are frustrated with the state of the system and are sharing their own horror stories.
The renewed anger was sparked after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in the middle of Manhattan earlier this month.
The alleged murderer, Luigi Mangione, was arrested on December 9 after a five-day manhunt. He has been charged with second-degree murder.