Brit tourist fighting for life in Ibiza hospital after 'heat stroke collapse'

A British holidaymaker has been left fighting for her life in an Ibiza hospital after she collapsed in her hotel bathroom from suspected heat stroke.

Sue Adams, 62, jetted off to the Balearic island with her husband James on August 29 for a welcome 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 9:30pm.

But when the dad-of-two heard a noise when his wife got up to go to the toilet at 4am, 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 to call an ambulance.

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But when the ambulance team arrived, James says Sue began to 'convulse' and was rushed to hospital for further treatment.
At the hospital, Sue underwent a full body scan which doctors confirmed no internal bleeding but 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 and doctors have now said her kidneys are failing. In a recent update from a doctor, James says they 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 at the moment but he believes suspected heat stroke caused her to faint. He then thinks this saw her possibly hit her head on the bathroom sink, which caused her to have a seizure.
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.

In light of this, one of James' sons has set up a GoFundMe to help with the financial burden this has had on the pensioner.
James says he 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.

James, from Loftus in North Yorkshire, 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. I was shocked [when I found Sue on the floor] and I went into a bit of a panic. I was saying her name and trying to get a response from her.

"The nurse side of me kicked in and I put her in the recovery position and kept talking to her. But, at the same time I was desperately worried and frightened that she had done some serious damage. I squatted down beside her and was stroking her hair to reassure her but she couldn't hear me because she was unconscious. The emotions now. I've got tears in my eyes telling you this."

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.

He now hopes to raise funds through the GoFundMe page that his son set up to help him stay with his wife abroad while she recovers. James said: "There wasn't an infection when she went in there so it's a bit of 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."

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